


No Rainbow Without Rain

by baeconandeggs, ChrisArrow



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Male Pregnancy, Mpreg, birth scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-15 02:33:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14782008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrisArrow/pseuds/ChrisArrow
Summary: The little miracle they waited for years finally came at the edge of divorce





	No Rainbow Without Rain

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt #: BAE202**   
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
>  
> 
>  **Author's Note:** Dear Prompter, I hope you like what I created with your prompt. If not, forgive me, please. ㅠ.ㅠ I’m glad to be a part of this amazing fest once again and hope every reader enjoys this story as much as I did writing it. ‘ㅅ’ A big thank you goes to the amazing mods of this fest! Thank you for being so incredibly patient with me. ♥

Baekhyun watched as his husband walked past the living room, disappearing into a room that wasn’t their bedroom. A sigh left him as the door fell shut behind Chanyeol, dipping the apartment into silence again.

They were at it again. They were ignoring each other, avoiding each other, spending their days without talking to each other. And that all because a simple, insignificant quarrel had escalated; once again. 

It happened far too often in the past year, they fought way too much and it was slowly but steady drawing them apart. After five years of marriage, Baekhyun wasn’t sure if the love they have once shared still existed. 

As the door to the guest room opened again Baekhyun looked up, meeting his husbands eyes. “D-do you have a minute?” He asked, quietly waiting for Chanyeol to respond. 

“Yeah, sure,” the tall man said and walked into the room, sitting down on the couch on the opposite of Baekhyun. “What is it?”

“Well, my cousins wedding is this Saturday and I wanted to know if you’re still coming with me or not?” When Chanyeol hummed, Baek hold his breath. He didn’t know what he would do if Chanyeol would not going to the wedding with him. He was a bad liar and wouldn’t know what to say if his family would ask why his husband wouldn’t be with him.

“This Saturday?” Yeol asked, sounding a little surprised. “I thought it’s next weekend.”

“Uhm no, it’s this weekend,” Baek mumbled, relieved that Chanyeol obviously had not forgotten about the invitation. “B-but if you don’t have time then it’s okay, I can go alone.”

“No,” Chanyeol said. “I have time, I just forgot the exact date. Do you think my dark blue suit will do it? I just brought the black one to the cleaners.”

“Sure it’ll do it,” the smaller nodded, smiling a little. “I like it better than the black one anyways.” He felt his cheeks getting warm when Chanyeol returned the smile. “W-would you spare me another minute, maybe?”

Chanyeol nodded slightly. “Sure.”

Baekhyun breathed in, clenching his jaw when he felt tears watering his eyes. “W-would-” he let out a shaky breath. “Would you come back to bed tonight?” He eventually brought out. “You don’t have to talk to me, you can keep ignoring me but please, I can’t take it anymore. I miss you and I really don’t want to sleep in our bed alone anymore.”

The words seemed to have hit Chanyeol and Baekhyun hearts sank as he noticed his husbands glassy eyes. Chanyeol loudly breathed in, slowly sinking down the couch to his knees, kneeling down right in front of the smaller. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, hands resting on top of Baekhyun’s thighs. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know,” Baek nodded. “I’m sorry too.” He let himself fall forwards into his husbands arms, crying out. He sobbed into the taller’s shoulder, clawing at his shirt while Chanyeol rubbed his back. “W-where are we going wrong?”

Chanyeol swallowed at the question. “I don’t know,” he said. “I really don’t know.”

“D-do you still love me?”

“Of course,” the answer came without any hesitation and it had Baekhyun sighing in relief. “Of course I love you, Baek. What makes you think I wouldn’t love you anymore?”

“I don’t know,” Baek shrugged, lower lip trembling. “I-it’s just, we fight a lot and I can feel us growing apart from each other.”

Sucking in a breath Chanyeol looked at the other, nodding a little. “Yeah, I can feel it too.”

“We have to fix this,” Baek cried. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t,” Yeol said, cupping Baekhyun’s face with both of his hands. “I promise,” he smiled, slowly pulling his husband into a sweet kiss.

♥

The wedding was a dream and as Baekhyun watched his cousin getting married with a bright smile on her face, he couldn’t help but shed a tear. As the priest spoke his final words and the couple sealed the ceremony with a kiss his mind took him back to the moment he and Chanyeol stood in front of an altar, exchanging rings, vows and a kiss.

A hand gently touching his face and a finger wiping away the tear from his cheek had Baekhyun turning his head. He met Chanyeol’s smile and returned it, leaning against the man a little while hugging his arm.

Leaving the place where the ceremony took place the guest were led to a banquet hall where a couple of waiters welcomed them with sparkling wine and other drinks. “Oh, it looks so amazing,” Baekhyun said, looking around the decorated room. Everything was held in cream colors, with flickering candles and pastel pink roses giving decent accents. 

“It indeed does,” one his aunts nodded. She gifted Chanyeol a smile as the young man handed her a glass of champagne. “Thank you, my dear.” 

“Your welcome,” Chanyeol smiled at her, then handing Baekhyun a glass as well.

The woman hummed loudly. “Ah, you drinking alcohol tells me that you’re still not expecting, huh? Too bad, I hoped for finally getting some excited news from you.”

Baekhyun’s face fell and didn’t know what else to do then lowering his head, gazing to the floor. Him and Chanyeol still not having a baby after five years of marriage was an often discussed topic in his family and everytime it came up Baekhyun felt like crying. It wasn’t as if Chanyeol and he did not want to have a child, it just simply didn’t happen.

They were trying for years, even consulted different doctors to check if their might have been a problem with one of them but they were as healthy as even possible. It seemed that fade just did not want them to have their own family, yet.

“Ah, what’s with this baby talk all the time?” Chanyeol spoke up. “Baek and I are still young, no need to rush.”

“But you’re married for such a long time already.”

“So what? Do we have to be like every other couple out there? I don’t think so, it’s good the way it is. We enjoy life, travel and we still get to know each other better.”

Baekhyun’s aunt clearly didn’t like what she heard and scrunched her nose. “Okay, I admit, you’re still pretty young but the clock is ticking. When I was 26 I was pregnant with my third child.”

“Yeah, but that was ages ago. Lifestyle has changed.”

The comment hat Baekhyun laughing a little. 

“Comes time, comes baby,” Chanyeol said, then reaching for Baekhyun’s hand. “And now excuse us, we want to gratulate the newleds.”

Baekhyun was tightly holding onto his glass as Chanyeol pulled him away from his aunt, further into the crowd of chatting wedding guests. “Thank you.”

Chanyeol came to halt and turned to the smaller. “I hate this topic just as much as you do, no need to thank me,” he said. He bent down a little and pressed a kiss to his husbands forehead. “Come on, cheer up a little. We’re not here to sulk over something your family is talking about. Let’s enjoy the day and have some fun.”

Baekhyun let his lips curl into a smile and nodded his head. “Okay.”

After Chanyeol had given a clear statement to his aunts pressing questions the woman seemed to have informed all other curious members of Baekhyun’s family about it because no other, neither Baekhyun’s cousins nor his mother, came up with any baby related questions and so Baekhyun and Chanyeol were indeed able to enjoy the evening. 

The wedding party was accompanied by a lot of different entertainment. The groom’s best man slipped in his way to the buffett, almost knocking over the whole dessert display. The first dance of bride and groom caused tears of laughter because Baekhyun’s cousins husband could not dance at all and once alcohol found its way into the glasses of the guests, the mood went through the ceiling. Everyone had fun late into the night.

Baekhyun was pulled away from a cheering, drinking crowd of young men around three in morning and he didn’t complain at all when Chanyeol breathed a soft “Let’s go,” into his ear. 

He was a little tipsy and giggled as he stumbled over his own feet, almost face planting the floor. 

“A little too many shots, huh?”

Baek nodded as Chanyeol wrapped an arm around him to keep him steady. “Funny colored, sweet drinks are dangerous,” he said, sucking in a breath as he felt a little dizzy.

“Do you want me to call a cab or shall we walk?”

“Let’s walk.”

Since the wedding took place in another city, Baek and Yeol were staying at a hotel. His aunt had offered them to stay at her house but Chanyeol was fast to reject the offer, telling Baek that he’d rather sleep on a bench than having to listen to his family’s so called advices.

Baekhyun was okay it, more than okay. He also did not want to sleep at her place and was glad that his husband shared this desire. 

It was till quite warm as they made their way to the hotel and Baekhyun inhaled the nice early summer air with a hum. “It’s been long since we walked like this,” he uttered, remembering that he and Chanyeol used to go on random walks in the middle of the night.

“That’s why I asked if you want to walk,” Chanyeol said. He let go of Baekhyun’s shoulder only to reach for his hand. Interlocking their fingers he caused his husband to giggle as he started to swing their hands back and forth. “You know, during the ceremony I thought about us.”

Baekhyun glanced at the taller, waiting for him to continue speaking. 

“The past year, I-” The man paused, exhaling. “I can’t even explain what happened, can’t tell where we’re going wrong that we end up fighting so much. All I can tell you is that I hate it.”

Baek nodded his head at the words. “Me too. B-but how do we change it?”

Chanyeol shrugged. “Maybe we should take a little time out. Let’s go on vacation and escape our daily life for a while. Away from home it might is easier to talk about things that annoy us.”

“Y-yeah,” Baekhyun said. He truly approved the idea. “Where do you want to go?”

“We never had the chance to visit the Caribbean. You always wanted to go there, right?”

Baekhyun gasped. “B-but that’s so expensive.”

“Ah, don’t worry. I’ve put a little money aside.”

“Oh really?” That was new to Baek. “I didn’t know.”

Chanyeol hummed. “I opened up a saving account when you first thought you’d be pregnant. Saving money is always good and I thought that with a baby we always could need a little extra money.”

A sigh left the smaller. “D-do you think that this whole baby thing is to blame for our problems.”

“I guess it’s to blame in some parts but definitely not all.” Chanyeol stopped in his tracks and turned to his husband. “Baek, I mean what I told your aunt today. Comes time, comes baby. I know we’ve been trying for years but we really should take step back from it. It’s driving us insane. We really should focus on something else.”

“You’re right,” Baek nodded, closing his eyes. “We really should focus on something else and if you’re really going to take me to the Caribbean, I won’t say no.”

His husbands cute giggle had Chanyeol smiling. Grabbing the smaller by the face he pulled him into a loving kiss. “I hope those adorable red swim trunks you own still fit.”

“Oh, you bet.”

♥

Getting away from home, leaving their dreary daily routines behind for a while worked wonders on the couples married life. Having all the time of the world to spend with one other, Baekhyun and Chanyeol enjoyed each other’s company as they had never done before.

The Caribbean sun and relaxed mentality of the islander quickened their love and Baekhyun was rather sad when it was eventually time to leave again. 

“Oh god, it’s raining,” the young office worker grumbled as the plane landed, slowly rolling towards the terminal. “Do we have to get off? I want to go back.”

Chanyeol chuckled, gently petting his loves thigh. “I’m sorry to say that but we have to.”

Baekhyun sighed loudly. “A shame that most of the sweet things of life are not for free.”

Shaking his head in amusement Chanyeol smiled to himself, shifting in his seat as he noticed some of the other passengers getting up to fetch their cabin baggage from the luggage compartments. “Come on, babe. To cheer you up I’ll take you out for a nice dinner at your favorite restaurant. How does that sound?”

“Quite good, to be honest. But please let’s go home first, yeah? I’d like to take a shower.”

As fast as the plan of going out for dinner was made, as fast it was rejected again. Arriving at home, the Park couple was greeted by an unexpected and shocking sight. The foul smell of rotten wood that flew at them had Baekhyun choking. 

“What the hell?” Carefully stepping into the hall, Chanyeol scowled at the destroyed parquet.

The expensive flooring was bulged and cracked open in many places, especially on the sides by the skirting and as the tall man stepped further into his apartment he had to see that the damages covered not only to the entrance area. 

“Oh my god,” Baek breathed out as he also surveyed the damage. “W-what happened?”

Shrugging, Chanyeol fumbled his phone out of his pocket. “Let me call the janitor, I’d like to know as well.”

Calling the elderly man who was employed as the caretaker of the apartment building, the couple learned that a burst pipe flooded all apartments on the ground floor. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Park,” the man was heard over the speakers. “We tried to inform you but you’re not to reach. We left plenty of notes and messages.”

“Don’t be sorry, Mr. Lee,” Chanyeol said to the man. “But may I know when the pipe burst?”

“Exactly two weeks ago,” came as an answer. “I hope the water in that time did not damage too much.”

“Well, we haven’t seen the the full extent yet but the hallway and the kitchen are a mess.”

“I’m really sorry,” Mr. Lee said again. “If you know about the full damage get in contact with the housing association, they provide $5000 compensation.”

Chanyeol nodded at the words. “Thank you very much, Mr. Lee. Have a good day.”

“You too.”

A deep sigh left Chanyeol after he ended the call. Stuffing his phone back into the back pocket of his jeans, he turned to his husband. 

“What’s with that face?” Baek asked as he could make out signs of an angry expression on the tallers face. “Are you angry, now?”

“I am.”

“But it’s not my fault that the pipe burst.”

“I’m not angry at you, I’m angry at your mother. She was supposed to water the plants and empty the mailbox, right?”

“W-well, yes,” Baek nodded. “That’s true. L-let me call her.”

With a grumbling husband trotting off to inspect their damaged apartment, Baekhyun hurried to get his phone from his bag. Dialing his mother's number, he went to sit on the couch in the living room as he waited for her to answer the call. “Mom?”

“Oh Baekhyun, my boy. Are you back from your vacation? How was it?”

“Mom, something happened and I’d like you to tell me the truth. In the past three weeks, have you ever set a foot into our apartment?”

“W-why?” The woman asked. “What happened?”

“So you did not?”

“N-no,” she said. “Listen honey, I’m very sorry, I’ve lost the key to your apartment. So I only dropped by to collect your mail every other day. You did not get that much mail, by the way.”

“Oh mom,” Baek wailed. “Why didn’t you call us?”

“I didn’t want to disturb your vacation. What happened that you’re so upset?”

“A water pipe burst, two weeks ago. Our whole apartment was and partly still is under water. The whole floor is damaged.”

A gasp was heard on the other end of the side. “Oh honey, I’m so sorry. If I’d have known-”

“You know, Chanyeol is angry as hell right now.”

“I’m really sorry. Can you already tell how high the repair costs will be?”

“Well, of course not,” Baek huffed into the phone. “We came home like five minutes ago.” He brought down his phone for a second as Chanyeol stepped into the room. “Uh, mom, Yeol just came. I’ll call you if we know more.”

“And?”

Biting down his lip, Baek sighed. “Mom lost our key.”

Chanyeol raised a brow. “Means, she’s not been here at all?”

“Well, only to empty the mailbox.”

“Really, if I lose someone’s key I’ll call them, don’t I?” 

“Oh come on, calm down a little. She didn’t mean to disturb our vacations.”

“But I can’t calm down,” Chanyeol grumbled. “Fuck Baek, this will cost us a fortune. Every fucking room is wet. We have to replace the flooring in the whole apartment. And I don’t want want to know how our kitchen furniture looks like.”

“But won’t the insurance cover up damages like this?”

“We’re lucky if they pay us anything at all. A water damages has to be reported immediately.”

“B-but we were not here when it happened.”

“But we left someone in charge! Someone who could’ve given the janitor and craftsman access to the apartment.”

“Oh,” Baek brought out. 

“Yes, oh!” In his anger, Chanyeol kicked the against the couch. “Fuck! Really!”

Getting up from the couch, Baek went around it. “Yeol,” he cooed, reaching out for the man. “I know it’s a shitty situation but please, calm down a little.”

“Can I calm down after we cleaned up a little? We really have to get rid of the soaked carpets and god, we have to get some fresh air into here. It stinks.”

Baek smiled at his husbands slightly more relaxed state. “Okay. Shall we split up or go room by room?”

“Room by room?”

“Alright,” Baek nodded. “Then let’s start.”

The damages the water had done were worse than one could see by their naked eye. The water did not only damaged the expensive wooden flooring and kitchen furniture but also the walls in the living and bed rooms. 

After the parquet was removed and kitchen emptied, drying machines moved into the Park’s apartment. They were big and loud and they got onto the couples nevers just as they did themselves. 

All the happy, peaceful days of their vacations were forgotten and quarrels took back over their daily life together. Most of the times they fought over money and when they not did, they jumped at one another’s throats because of dumb nothings. 

“God, Chanyeol!” Baek roared as he stumbled over his husbands briefcase. “Do you always have to leave this damn bag right in the way?!”

“Excuse me,” came back from the inside of the guest bathroom. “But I didn’t want to piss my pants! Calm down, I’ll put it away in a minute.”

“Just take it with you next time. You know there’s no space because of this fucking machines!”

“Well, it’s not my fault that they’re here!”

“I know, it’s my mother’s fault and therefore mine as well because I’m the one who left her in charge.”

The bathroom door opened and Chanyeol stepped into the all. “I never said that.”

“It’s literally written on your forehead.”

The tall IT-specialist rolled his eyes at the comment. “Yeah sure, think whatever you want.”

“Take your stupid bag with you,” Baek grumbled after his husband as the man pushed past one of the drying machines. 

Chanyeol just waved him off and continued making his way towards their bedroom. “Shall we order some Chinese tonight.” He asked Baek as he came back, changed into some other clothes.

“No, thanks. I’ll go and have dinner at my parents house.”

The snotty tone had Chanyeol sighing. “Well, how bout taking a bag with you and staying there?”

Baekhyun gasped. “Excuse me, what?”

“Baek, for real! We’re exactly going back to where we were before. We’re constantly fighting. Just stay with your parents until we both calmed down.”

“So you think ignoring us for a while will help solving our problems?”

“No, but it’s the best we can do right now. The whole crab with the apartment does only aggravate our situation even more.”

“Fine,” Baek huffed. “If you think it’s the best, I’ll go.

Baekhyun did, he left. After packing a rather big bag he left husband and damaged apartment behind and went to his parents house. And even after weeks, after the apartment was fully renovated and back into a habitable state he did not return. 

Life away from home had the young man realizing that the problems Chanyeol and he had were of a much deeper nature than he wanted to admit. And Baekhyun was not the only one who came to his realization. In the weeks parted from his husband, Chanyeol also realized that the love they once shared had turned into something that was not as deep and intimate anymore as it once had been. 

Separated from each other the couple fell into a daily routine they completely enjoyed. With no private stress their social lives blossomed up again and their hours at work were not accompanied by the thoughts of not really wanting to go home. And as tough as it sounded, the couple came to the conclusion that they were doing better when not being around each other. 

“Baekhyun, I-” Chanyeol paused, breathing in. “How are you?”

It was the first time in weeks that they had seen each other and it was a little awkward, at least for Baekhyun. He nodded his head at the question and forced out a small smile. “Uhm, I’m doing good. A little queasy lately but I guess I got infected by one of my co-workers. She’s been sick for weeks already.”

Chanyeol hummed at the answer. “Ah, take care.”

“T-thanks, I will.”

Silence fell between them and was only broken again as Chanyeol cleared his throat. “Alright, I-” He paused again. “I don’t know how to start this but-”

“Yeah,” Baek nodded. “Me too.”

“R-really?”

The young man nodded again. “It’s been only a couple of weeks but I feel like human again. Everything is so-”

“Peaceful? Relaxed?”

“Yes! It’s crazy, so much changed already. I went out for lunch and dinner with my co-workers so many times already, I never knew why I did not do that before. It’s so nice.”

“Yeah, I’ve been meeting up with some of my friends as well,” Chanyeol said, smiling. 

“That’s nice to hear,” Baekhyun returned the smile.

“So, that is it then? We’re breaking up?”

Baekhyun gave a nod. “It’s time, I think. We’ve been hurting each other way too much and for way too long.”

“Do you want to have the apartment?”

“No, I’m fine but thanks,” Baek smiled. “I’ll stay with my parents until I’ll find an affordable apartment.”

“Alright but in case you change your mind, let me know.”

“Chanyeol, you don’t have to take care of me anymore.”

The words hurt the tall man more than he expected and for a brief moment he just stared at Baekhyun, not responding. “W-well, I just thought that it w-would give you an easier start.”

“That’s very nice but keep it. It’s yours anyway.”

“Okay. Uh, if you want to come over and get the rest of your stuff let me know, so I’ll stay out a little longer.”

Baekhyun nodded. “Alright, I’ll do that.” Gazing away onto his wrist watch, he slowly rose up from the chair. “Sorry but I’ve got to go. My lunch break is almost over.”

“Ah, yeah,” Yeol said, getting up as well. “Uh, I’ll pay for your drink, go ahead.”

“Thanks,” Baekhyun smiled. “Bye.”

“Baek?”

“Hm?”

“T-take care, okay?”

“Sure. You too.”

Chanyeol watched as the smaller walked off, leaving the cafe. Only minutes after Baekhyun had left he sat back down, sighing heavily. He knew it was better this way, better for both of them and yet it hurt. It hurt him so much that Chanyeol was close to tears. 

As he eventually left the cafe as well, he didn’t make his way back to work but home. The newly renovated apartment greeted him with silence and the smell of freshly polished wood. Taking off shoes and suit jacket, the tall man shuffled towards the kitchen to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. 

The cold bottle in his hand he then went to the living room and sunk down the couch. As he leaned into the soft cushions his eyes fell onto a photography of his husband. It was a picture Chanyeol had taken on their honeymoon, five years ago. Baekhyun’s hair was all over the place, messed up by the wind and his eyes were adorably curved as he brightly smiled into the camera. 

Chanyeol absolutely loved the photo and it saddened him that he was responsible for this beautiful human being to be hurt way too often in the past time of the last year.

♥

Tears were streaming down his face as he tightly held onto his phone, trying to not cry out loudly. “A-are you really sure?”

“Very sure, Mr. Park,” came the answer by the female voice who had called him. “The test result is clear, an error is excluded.”

“O-okay, t-thank you very much.”

“You’re very welcome. Shall we make an appointment for the first official check-up?”

“Ah, y-yeah,” Baek breathed out, wiping the still running tears off his wet cheeks. “Uh, is it possible to get one in the early noon?”

“Of course. Upcoming Monday, 11.30AM?”

“S-sounds good.”

“Great, we’ll see you then. Oh and Mr. Park, congratulations again.”

“Oh, yes. T-thank you. Bye.” 

With the phone still pressed to his ear, Baekhyun listened to the beeping sound that followed after the call was ended. Breathing in he slowly sunk down to sit on his bed, eventually bringing the phone down to put it away. 

“Oh god,” he cried out, shoulders shaking as a new load of tears pooled in his already red eyes. 

With his co-worker being sick and sitting right next to him at the office, Baekhyun really had thought that he got infected by her cold and as he went to see a doctor, he did not expect to get the diagnosis of being in the early stages of pregnancy. 

He did not get suspicious at all as the doctor wanted to run a blood test, thought that the medic this way just wanted to determine the possible infection that unfold in his body and the sudden, unexpected news of him not being bugged by an flu but a tiny human that was growing under his heart that Baekhyun shook. 

It just couldn’t be. After all the years of him and Chanyeol vainly trying to have a baby, they would have it at the edge of their divorce. “Oh god, why today?” Whining, Baekhyun gazed at the alarm clock to read the time. 

He would see Chanyeol today, meet him in a nearby cafe and then drive with him to the lawyer to sign the divorce papers. Today was the day, the day they would end their marriage and Baekhyun did not know how he would be able to endure this procedure, knowing that he was carrying his soon-to-be ex-husbands child in him. 

A knock on the door had Baekhyun flinching. “Yes?” He squeaked, quickly wiping his tears off with the sleeve of his shirt. A shirt that happened to be Chanyeol’s.

“Honey, it’s me,” the voice of his mother said from the outside. “Can I come in?”

“N-no,” Baek almost yelled. “I’m b-basically naked right now,” he lied. “I’m getting ready to meet Chanyeol.”

“That’s why I’m here. Honey, do you really think that this divorce is what you want? Do you really think this is the right thing to do?”

“I d-don’t know,” the young man whispered to himself.

“I know it’s been hard for you and that you’ve fought a lot but you were together for over eight years. You should not just throw that away. You should fight for your love.”

“It’s not that easy, mom.”

“It is, you just have to want it.”

“Are you done, now?” Baek growled as he felt his eyes watering again. “I have to get ready.”

“I’m sorry, honey. I just hope you do what you want and what you think is right.”

His mother’s words stuck in his head the whole way to the cafe he and Chanyeol would meet. Was his mother right with what she said? Was a divorce really the right thing to do? Should they really end eight years of being together and five years of marriage like this? He didn’t know. 

Baekhyun sat down at a table by the window as he waited for Chanyeol to finally arrive. Almost two months had passed since he had seen his husband last and as the tall man walked through the door of the small cafe, Baekhyun’s mouth fell open. The man that walked towards his table with a soft smile on his face was for sure Chanyeol, yet he looked much more different than the last time they had seen each other.

Chanyeol did not wear a suit but a simple pair of jeans and a black shirt that sat tight on his all so suddenly buff looking frame. “Hey,” the man greeted and Baekhyun just started a moment before he actually respond. “H-hello.”

“How are you?” Chanyeol asked as he sat down.

“O-okay.”

“You’re a little pale.”

“Ah yeah, uh, just a cold,” Baek stuttered. “How are you? You look different.”

“Oh yeah,” Yeol laughed out, lifting one of his nicely toned arms. “I’ve been working out. I started a therapy and my therapist recommended doing some sports.”

“You’re doing a therapy? Why?”

“Well, I figured that I might have some problems with controlling my anger when something annoys me and I was right. It’s not that I have heavy anger problems but the therapy helps me to learn how to control it and face tricky situations better. And the sports help, too. I started boxing classes and reagulary meet up with some guys to play basketball.”

“I s-see,” Baek hummed, eyes wandering over Chanyeol’s new build upper body. His already broad shoulders looked even broader and the muscle of his biceps that grown to a size where it was slightly stretching out the sleeve of his shirt. 

Eventually drawing his eyes away, Baekhyun gazed into his lap. Hearing that Chanyeol started a therapy, that he literally started to work on himself, physically, as well as psychologically impressed him. But it also made him feel bad. It made him realize that he also could’ve started to work on himself. 

Breathing in, Baekhyun looked back up. “M-may I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“W-would you take me back?”

Chanyeol immediately broke into a smile. “What kind of question is that? Baek, you’re the love of my life. I’d take you back anytime.”

“Would you take me back if I asked you for it?”

“Why though? So we can start all over only to go slowly back to where we were?”

“B-but you said I’d be the love of your life?”

“You are and you’ll always be. And yet I hurt you and you hurt me. We shouldn’t hurt each other. If us being together means that we’ll hurt each other, we’re better off separated.”

Swallowing, Baekhyun tried to fight back the tears that slowly crept up his eyes. “A-and there’s nothing tha-” “Baek,” Chanyeol cut him off. “If you don’t want us to get divorced today, give me reason. A good reason, a life changing one, I don’t know but give me a reason that will change my mind. Give me a reason that is worth for us to fight for our relationship.”

“O-our child-”

Almost instantly Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “W-what?” He asked, leaning over the table a little. “What did you say?”

“I’m p-” Baek broke into tears even before he could finish the sentence.

Getting up from his seat, Chanyeol moved over to his husband and sat down on the chair right next to him. He grabbed a napkin that neatly folded lay on the table and gave it to him. “Is it true?”

Baekhyun nodded, taking the napkin to wipe away some of his tears. “I went t-to see a d-doctor,” he hiccuped. “B-because-”

“Shall I get you a glass of water?”

“P-please.”

In the short time of Chanyeol leaving the table to get him a glass of water, Baekhyun tried to calm down as much as possible. He blew his nose and took some deep breaths. He drank some of the water as Chanyeol was back and sighed softly as he looked at the taller’s questioning look. “I went to see a doctor because I was still feeling a little queasy and I thought it was because my coworker is still sick. He couldn’t tell right away if I was really having some infection, so he suggested to take some blood for a test.”

Chanyeol nodded at the words. “When did you get the call?”

“Today. A couple of minutes before I left to meet you. I’ll have the first check-up on Monday.”

The tall IT-specialist hummed, leaning back into his chair. “Well, this is indeed a life changing reason. Something I actually wouldn’t have expected.”

“Me neither,” Baek said. “I g-guess the vacation really did make us forget about our problems for a while and took a great amount of pressure from us.”

The words tickled a soft smile out of Chanyeol but it soon faded away again. Leaning back forwards, he looked at Baekhyun. “Baek, if you really want us to try again, to get back together, I won’t say no but I have a condition.”

“W-what is it?”

“We have to work on our problems but we can’t do that all alone. We need help getting back on track.”

“O-of course.”

“Also, I do not want us to go home together right after this. We have to take small steps.”

“Yes.”

“Are you really okay with that?”

“I am.”

“Alright,” Yeol said. “Then I should call the lawyer, huh?”

“Yes,” Baek instantly said, blushing at how loud and squeaky the word escaped him. “Please.” 

With his heart thumping in his chest he watched and listened as Chanyeol called the lawyer, telling him that the divorce would not take place.

“Thank you,” he said when the phone call was ended.

Chanyeol only smiled and shook his head slightly. “You said that your first check-up is on Monday, shall we wait and get an appointment for a therapy after that?”

“But only if it’s okay for you.”

“It’s totally fine with me.”

“Okay,” Baek smiled. “Uhm, d-do you, I mean w-would you like to come with me on Monday?”

Chanyeol hesitated to answer but eventually gave a nod. “With pleasure,” he said, lips curling into soft smile. “Where and what time?”

“At 11.30 in the small health center close to my work.”

“Okay,” Yeol said, making mental notes of time and place. “Do your parents already know?”

“No, you’re the first I wanted to tell. Also, I’d like to keep it a secret for now. My mother, you know-” Baek sighed. “Now it’s not the non-existed grandchild she’s talking about but our break up.”

“I see.”

“Yeah, I don’t want her to know for now. Not about the baby, nor about our decision to try again. I don’t need her talking and nagging and her want to know about everything that goes on.”

Chanyeol nodded in understanding. “I know I just said that I’d like us to live separated for a little longer but if you can’t take it anymore, if they bother you too much, call me, okay? I’ll pick you up immediately.”

“I will, thank you.”

♥

Baek was early and he was nervous. Standing in front of the main entrance of the health center he shifted from one foot to the other, constantly gazing at his wrist watch. It was only eleven but he couldn’t help himself and left his workplace the minute his lunch break began. He regretted it a little though. Because of his hectic escape he forgot to take his prepared lunch with him and now his stomach was growling, sounding like an angry puppy.

Gazing on to his watch, checking the time once again Baekhyun then looked up and eyed the small bakery on the other side of the street. Thinking for a second his growling stomach then convinced him to go over to check out the baker’s display.

Looking left and right he checked the street for cars and rushed over to the other side. As he skipped past one of the the cars that was parked at the side and stepped onto the sidewalk, a loud shriek escaped him as he all of a sudden bumped into a suddenly appearing figure. “Ah!”

“Oh god, Baek. I’m sorry.”

Looking up, Baek gasped. “Yeol! Why are you already here?”

“I was close and didn’t have breakfast yet. I’m hungry and wanted to get something from the bakery,” the tall man said, pointing at the sign of the bakery they stood in front of.

“Oh, me too,” Baek laughed out.

“What do you mean, you too?” Chanyeol asked, frowning all of the sudden. “You did not have breakfast? Baek, you should not just skip breakfast. Not anymore.”

“W-what? I n-no, I didn’t. I had breakfast, really,” Baek stuttered. “But I’m hungry, I forgot my lunch at the office.”

“Ah, oh,” Chanyeol voiced out. “I’m sorry. Uh, then let’s go and get something to eat, huh?”

“Yes.”

After a quick jump into the bakery to grab something to eat, the couple around fifteen minutes later then made their way to the health center. Baekhyun nervously rubbed his hands together as Chanyeol held open the door the practice for him. Stepping to the front desk, they were greeted by the friendly smile of a young woman. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Baek said. “Uh, I have an appointment at 11.30. Park Baekhyun.”

“Ah yes, first check-up, right? The the colleagues of general medicine have told us.”

“Y-yes.”

“Every expecting will get a maternity record at the first examination so we need some information,” the receptionist said, handing over a clipboard and a pen. Baekhyun gazed down, nodding his head as his eyes wandered over the questionnaire that was titled as patient information. “You can sit down in the waiting area, just bring it back when your done filling it out.”

“Okay,” Baek said. Followed by Chanyeol he walked over to the waiting area and sat down on a free chair by the door. His husband sat down next to him, leaning back into the seat. “Oh god, they want to know my blood type.”

“O,” Chanyeol answered, followed by a chuckle. “It’s something you should know, you know.”

“How do you even know?”” Baek asked, raising a brow at the taller.

“It’s written in your vaccination certificate. You know, that’s this little yellow book you always manage to lose.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes at the comment. “Well, thank you very much for being so well informed. Do you by any chance also know when I had my last tetanus vaccination?”

“No, but let’s check.”

“C-check?” The young man’s eyes widened in surprise as his husband suddenly brought his vaccination certificate. “W-why do you have it? How do you even know that I would need it?”

“I didn’t,” the taller said. “Actually, I found it in the morning in the first aid kit and thought that I should give it to you in case you’d need it. And voilà you need it. What a coincidence.”

“I’ve put in the first aid kit? I totally forgot,” Baek mumbled. “What happened that you got the first aid kit?”

“Ah, I had some pain in the shoulder and was looking for some painkiller.”

“Is it better?” Baek asked, knowing that his husband usually never took any sort of painkillers. “What happened?”

“My box trainer accidentally hit me in the shoulder.”

“And, is it better?” Baek asked again.

“It is, don’t worry,” Yeo. said. “And now hurry up and finish this,” he added, flipping open vaccination record. “Your last tetanus vaccination was four years ago.”

After filling out the paper and bringin it back to the receptionist Baekhyun did not have to wait long until the he was called in to see the doctor. The elderly man with the heather gray hair greeted them with a smile and immediately congratulated to the little miracle that was growing under Baekhyun’s heart. 

“I was surprised when I received the test results from Dr. Kang.”

“Uh, why?”

“The test came out very clear, it’s a surprise that you didn’t notice that little bundle of joy before. You’ll be surprised how much we already can see,” he said, making a gesture towards the treatment table. “Please, lay down. You can take a seat there.”

Chanyeol gave a quick nod as he went over to the chair that stood by the end of the treatment table. “Is it possible to exactly say who old the fetus is?”

The doctor hummed as he reached out to push up Baekhyun’s shirt. “Pretty much, yes,” He looked at Baek and smiled at him. “Excited?”

“Nervous.”

“Ah, there’s no need to be nervous,” the medic laughed. He turned away to grab a bottle of gel he then poured onto the exposed belly. “Let’s take a look.”

Both, Chanyeol and Baekhyun, curiously stared at the screen as the doctor began with the ultrasound and their eyes widened as the baby eventually showed up. Just as the doctor had said they already could see much of it. Tiny, blurry limbs were already to be seen and from what they could make out with their untrained eyes it was moving. 

“Ah, there it is. Isn’t it beautiful? It always amazes me again.”

Baekhyun brought his eyes away from the screen for a moment to gaze at his husband. Chanyeol had a smile painted on his lips that grew second by second the more the doctor talked about their baby. “Can you tell how old is it?”

At the question Baek looked away from Yeol and focused his eyes on the doctor. “14 weeks,” was the answer. “Give it another two weeks and you’ll notice your belly starting to grow.”

Baek returned the smile the medic gifted him. “When can we find out about the gender?”

“In about 5 weeks. Would you like to know then?”

Chanyeol shrugged as Baekhyun looked at him. “If you would like to know I’m fine with that but I don’t necessarily need to know.”

“Ah yes, surprises are the best,” the doctor randomly threw in as he started to wipe Baekhyun’s belly clean with a couple of tissues. “But you still have five weeks to think about it. Let me know by then. How many print would you like to have?”

“Uh, two?”

“Only two?”

Baek nodded. “Yes, two are enough.”

The couple left the practice with a new appointment and the two very first ultrasound images of their child. Baekhyun hummed as he looked at the print before he carefully put it into the back pocket of his jeans. 

“Shall I drive you back to the office?”

“No, it’s okay.”

“But it’s already five to twelve,” Chanyeol stated, tapping onto his wrist watch. “Won’t you be late?”

“It’s okay, I told my boss that I’d have an appointment. He said it’s okay if I’d be a little late.”

“Ah, I see. Oh, before I forget, I made an appointment for the first therapy session. We could meet her on Thursday evening if you want.”

Baek nodded. “Yeah, sure. Uh, what time?”

“7PM.”

“Oh, but I have to work until 6.30.”

“That’s no problem, I’d pick you up. Her practice is close from here.”

“Ah, okay. Uh, d-do I have to bring something?”

Chanyeol laughed out at the question. “Only yourself.”

Baek blushed a little. “I see,” he said. “Alright, I really have to go now. Uh, see you on Thursday then.”

“Yes,” Yeol nodded. “You better hurry now or you’ll be more than just a little late.”

“Oh, y-yes. B-bye.”

“Bye and take care.”

♥

The therapists practice was bright and friendly, decorated with painted pictures on the walls and various plants that could be found in almost every corner. The atmosphere relaxed and Baekhyun and leaned back into the armchair he sat in, sighing softly.

The therapist smiled at him as their eyes met. “You really don’t have to be nervous. Would you like to have something to drink? A coffee, a tea, maybe?”

“Oh, tea sounds nice,” Baek nodded. “Thank you.”

Getting up, the elderly woman looked at Chanyeol. “And for you?”

“I’d take a coffee, thank you.”

After she had gotten them their drinks, she sat back down into her chair and placed a clipboard into her lap. “Alright, then let’s start.”

Baekhyun breathed in, faintly nodding his head.

“I’d like to start with some questions to get an overview,” the woman said, reaching for a pen. “How long have you been a couple?”

“Eight years,” Chanyeol answered. “Five of them married.”

“When’s your sixth wedding anniversary?”

“September 1st,” the couple said at the same time.

The therapist chuckled. “You won’t believe how many couple get this simple question wrong,” she scribbled something down on her notepad and then looked back up. “How did you decide to do a therapy?”

“Well,” Chanyeol started. “Actually, we live separately at the moment. And we were about to get divorced.”

“Oh,” the therapist voiced out, brows raising in surprise. “What made change your mind on getting divorced?”

“A child,” Baekhyun answered quietly.

“Are you expecting?”

“Yes.”

“Congratulations,” she smiled. 

“T-thank you.”

“So, I assume you found out recently?’

“Correct.”

Humming the lady leaned back into her chair. “Was this child planned?”

Chanyeol let out a chuckle. “Define planned. We’ve been trying for years, this right now caught both of us off guard.”

“I see,” the psychologist said. “For how many years did you try to have baby?”

“Actually, all five years of our marriage,” Baekhyun answered.

“Ah, so you wanted to go with the full package, tying the knot and starting a family?”

“Yes.”

“Would you say that the problems you have right now are caused by the unfulfilled desire for children?”

The couple gazed at each other for a second. “Maybe,” Yeol then said, shrugging his shoulders a little. “We never really fought, before. Everything that brought us here happened in the past year.”

Nodding her head at the words, the therapist wrote a few words down her notepad. “Tell me about the first year of marriage,” she said as she looked back up. “Why did the non-existent pregnancy not bother you back then?”

Baek hummed. “Uh, I guess it’s because we didn’t expect to have baby right away. Also, we were quite busy that year.”

“With what?”

“Well, with the wedding and then the honeymoon. We had to interrupt it because Chanyeol’s father was involved into a car accident. Once we was out of the hospital and fine again we decided to continue the trip.”

“What about the second year? What kept you busy in that year?”

“Our apartment,” Chanyeol threw in and Baekhyun nodded in agreement. “We bought an apartment but it didn’t go as we planned. We got fucked up, literally. Instead of a fully renovated apartment we got a shell. It took us over one and half years to make it habitable.”

Baekhyun sighed. “Yes, we were close to be on breadline.”

“But you did it.”

“We did, it was fight but we did it,” Chanyeol said, giving a proud smile. 

“Could you then at least take a step back and relax in the second half of the third year?”

“No, not really.”

“What happened?”

“In that year I went to Japan for a couple of months,” Baekhyun said after taking a sip of his tea. 

“Why?”

“My cousin got married that year and I was involved into the wedding preparations,” he said, watching as the woman nodded to herself while she once again scribbled something down. 

“Well, that brings us to year number four, huh? What kept you busy in that year?”

Chanyeol hummed. “I don’t know, did something happened that year?”

“Well, I started working at the company,” Baek said.

“Oh yeah, right. You’ve had a rough start there.”

“Really?” The psychologist asked. “Why did you have a rough start there?”

“Well, I was not really integrated at first. I came from a small office and my co-workers back then thought that I was not qualified enough for the job,” Baekhyun explained. “I felt really unwanted and desperately wanted to change that.”

“Did you change it?”

“I did,” Baek smiled. “Was tough, though. Every day after work I went to training courses to get additional qualifications. But it payed off and I even got promoted a couple of months ago.”

“That’s nice to hear. Well done.”

“Thank you.”

Chanyeol chuckled softly as Baekhyun proudly grinned, wiggling a little in his seat. “So, we now have reached the current year, huh?”

“We did,” the therapist nodded. “Tell me about this year? What has happened so far?”

“Nothing much,” Yeol answered. “Apart from the fact that we fought a lot. The most exciting thing that happened was our vacation.”

“Vacation?”

“Yes,” Baek nodded. “We went to the Caribbean. Kinda as a getaway from the daily life.”

“Did you fight in that time?”

“Not at all.”

“What caused the first fight after you’re back?”

“There was a water damage in our apartment and we had to completely renew the floor and the kitchen. Basically the whole apartment since some of the walls were wet as well.”

“Did you fight over the damage itself?”

The couple shook their heads. “No,” Baek said. “It was about the money and it got ridiculous after the drying machines were built up. The loud noises and mess irritated us even more. We split a week after coming back from our vacation.”

“Do you think that you started fighting because you were no longer mentally occupied? I mean, compared to all the other years, this year is quite quiet.”

Chanyeol furrowed his brows at the question. “I’d like to say no but-”

“Maybe?” Baek uttered, gazing at his husband. 

“How do you start your quarrels?”

“Well, that’s a good question,” Chanyeol laughed out. “I have no idea to be honest.”

“Well, we often start fighting when the baby topic comes up.”

“Do you bring it up?”

“Most of the times it’s brought up by our parents.”

“Does it annoy you when someone brings this topic up?”

“Oh hell yes. I could burst when someone mentions it,” Yeol growled. “I hate it.”

“And you?” She asked, looking at Baekhyun.

“Well, it annoys me, yes but it also saddens me.”

“Why does it sadden you?”

“I don’t know,” Baek said. “Of course it saddens me that we still don’t have a baby yet but it saddens me even more that we always get reminded that we don’t have a baby yet. Everytime we meet someone, no matter if friends or family, the first thing they ask is when we finally will have a baby.”

The woman nodded. “In the past years, were the moments when you thought that you’re pregnant?”

“Two times, yes,” Baek answered.

“How did you feel when you found out that you were not?”

“A little upset but not overly sad or disappointed.”

“But only the first time,” Chanyeol added.

“Well yeah, that’s true. The second time I was very disappointed.”

“Can you tell why?” Wanted the psychologist to know. 

The young male shrugged and gazed into his half empty tea cup.”When the test came out negative I just took it. It didn’t affect me that badly, I was sad, yes but I just thought that we could try it again and it would work some day-” He paused, deeply breathing in. “But when my mother started to mention that we were already trying for three years something snapped inside me. I suddenly was afraid that we would never have a child.”

“Did you consult a doctor?”

“Four,” Baekhyun answered with a dry laugh. “I was paranoid that something could be wrong with us.”

“That very much sounds as if you would’ve put yourself under a lot of pressure and your mother was the trigger.”

“Yes, probably.”

Putting her clipboard away, the therapist leaned forwards a little. “I’m pretty sure that you already know and that the doctors have informed you of how psychological stress can affect the body but let me tell you why you now, even though you’ve had stress in past year, were able to get pregnant. In the first four years you’ve tried for a baby you’ve been physically and mentally occupied, you’ve been under stress a lot and that the body shuts down in those moments to keep itself safe from even more stress. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that a pregnancy is also stress for body and mind.”

Baekhyun nodded at the words, humming softly.

“Even if there are moments when stress subsides your psyche still controls the body. It wants you to fully regain mental strength before it allows itself to be confronted with possible controllable changes again,” the psychologist paused, eyes wandering back and forth the couple. “As for now, for the very first time in the past five years you fled the stress you had. The stress subsided because you wanted it to subside. You took a time out and allowed your psyche to immediately take a breath. It started to recover from the stress in the moment you decided to go on this vacation.”

“Wow,” Yeol uttered. “That’s impressive.”

The therapist nodded. “People totally underestimate the power of emotions. Happiness can affect you in the most positive ways imaginable. It can change your life, but so can sadness. Sadness can lead to anxiety and anxiety can turn your life into hell.”

“So,” Baek spoke up. “Me being excited and happy about the vacation is responsible for my body allowing a new change to come?”

“It is one explainable reason.”

“And what’s another?”

The woman broke into a chuckle. “Well, think I’m allowed to say that your newfound relaxed attitude also brought you two closer together as well, in a physical way.”

While Chanyeol gave a nod with his lips curling into a smug smirk, Baekhyun flushed bright red. He cleared this throat, gasping slightly and lashing out at his husband as he noticed the grin on his face. 

The playful act had the therapist smiling. Watching as Chanyeol tried to avoid his husbands attempts to hit him in the shoulder by holding onto his wrist, she leaned into her seat. “You two did the right thing.”

“Eh, what?” Baekhyun asked, turning to. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said that you did the right thing with coming here. Sometimes couples come here and barely survive the first meeting but you two, you show great determination and I’m sure we can eradicate your problems.”

“That’s very nice to hear,” Chanyeol said, smiling.

“I’d like to end the session here but there’s already a little homework I’d like to give to you.”

The couple looked at her, nodding their heads as a sign of attention.

“You said that you are currently living separately. I’d like you to keep it that way for now. Also, I’d like you to regularly meet up.”

Baek tilted his head a little. “And what are we supposed to do then? Talk about what we like to change?”

“No,” she shook her head. “I’d like you to go on dates.”

“On dates?”

“Yes, go and watch a movie together or meet for a nice dinner. It’s not a date like in the very first beginnings where you get to know each other but right now you’re at stage where you lost sight of how valuable you are for each other. Also, you again have to learn to appreciate each other’s presence. So, meet in public, not in private.”

Chanyeol nodded. “We can do that.”

The therapist smiled. “Alright, then we’re done for today.”

“W-when should we come back?”

“In about six weeks. I’d like to give you enough time to meet up every now and then. But don’t feel pressured. Go out if you feel like going out, don’t meet up only because you think you have to.”

The couple nodded and watched as the woman reached for a small blue notepad.”Is the same day and time for the next session good for you?”

“Yes,” they said in unison.

“Alright,” she said and gave each of the two young man a piece of paper with the new appointment date. “See you in six weeks then.”

♥

The first time they met to go on a date just as the therapist had suggested, was a little over a week after their first therapy session. They agreed on going to a watch a movie but as Chanyeol dropped by to pick Baekhyun up from his workplace, the young expecting did not seem to be happy about sitting the evening in a dark movie theater. “Are you alright?”

“I am.”

“Baek, I can tell that something’s wrong, so what is it?”

“Do we have to go and see a movie?”

“Of course not? But I thought you wanted to see the movie?”

“I do want to see it but I don’t want to sit around for a couple of hours. I don’t feel like sitting. I sat the whole day.”

The whiny tone had the tall IT specialist smiling. “Sounds as if you’re developing mood swings, huh?”

A deep sigh escaped Baek. “I don’t want to have mood swings. I already have to deal with this never ending appetite.”

“Appetite?” Chanyeol raised a brow. “Well, shall we go to the street food festival then?”

“Street food festival?”

“Yes, it started today. They offer food from all around the world.”

“Well,” Baek hummed. “That sounds pretty good to me.”

Chanyeol chuckled, setting the blinker. “Then let’s check it out.”

Chanyeol’s idea of going to check out the street food festival that took place quite close to their apartment was exactly what Baek needed after the long day at the office. Walking around the crowd of happily chatting people and digging through the great variation of foreign food lifted the expectings mood immediately.

Munching on the most delicious taco he had ever eaten, Baekhyun squealed as he spotted a crêpe’s stall. “Look, look! He have to go there!”

“You’re still eating.”

“But I want to have a crêpe. Oh my god, they have white chocolate crêpes!”

Chanyeol raised both of his brows. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” Baek nodded, biting into his taco again. “Come.”

“You’ll puke.”

“I won’t.”

“I’m not sure about this.”

“But I am. I’ve eaten a whole ice-cream cake and three bowls of cheese macaroni for lunch and I’m perfectly fine, so don’t bug me. Do you want to have a crêpe, too?”

“Three bowls? A whole ice-cream cake?” Chanyeol’s brows almost met his hairline. “Where did you put all this?”

Baekhyun didn’t answered the question, busy with ordering two crêpes with white chocolate filling. Still chewing the rest of his taco he happily received the two french dessert rolls. “Moah, they smell so good,” he hummed as he gave one to Chanyeol. “Here.”

Chanyeol took the crêpe and bit into it just the second as Baekhyun did. “Oh, it’s really good.”

“It’s amazing,” Baek loudly hummed. “I have to get another one.”

“Eat this one first,” Yeol said. “I’m really worried that your stomach will turn.”

“Don’t worry,” Baek smiled. He pushed past Yeol and patted his shoulder. “Come, I’ve spotted a cotton candy stall right over there.”

Chanyeol sighed as he followed the smaller through the crowd. “This won’t end good.”

Chanyeol’s conjecture confirmed itself only a few minutes after Baekhyun had devoured a large baby pink cotton candy. Baekhyun sucked in a loud breath and slightly stumbled before he bend over a trash can, spitting out all he had eaten in the past two hours.

Shielding the smaller from the eyes of the other people, Chanyeol stepped behind him and put a hand on his back, rubbing it. “Shall I get you some water?”

“I’m not done yet,” Baek brought out, immediately leaning back over the trash can. Chanyeol scrunched his nose at the choking sounds the smaller made. “W-would you bring me home?”

“Of course,” Yeol said, looking at Baek as he stood back up. “But, would you like to have some water first?”

The expecting shook his head. “No, I just want to go home.”

Nodding, Chanyeol wrapped an arm around his husband and brought him to his car but they did not make it far. Just as the car rolled down the parking lot of the festival grounds Baekhyun threw up again, puking into his lap.

“Oh, don’t cry,” Yeol cooed as Baekhyun broke into tears. “It’s okay, it can happen.”

“No,” Baek sobbed, face scrunched in disgust. “Look at me.”

“I’d rather not. Just stop crying, I’ll bring you home.” Starting the engine again, Chanyeol finally drove off. But instead of driving Baek to his parents house, he head for the their apartment. By the time they got there Baekhyun was still sobbing and Chanyeol’s car was smelling awful.

As careful as possible Chanyeol helped his husband out of the car, hoping that nothing of the vomit got onto the leather seat while they drove home. “Just leave the clothes in the hallway, I’ll wash them right away.”

Baek only nodded as he waddled towards the bathroom, hiccuping. Chanyeol watched until his figure disappeared behind the open bedroom door and then head towards the kitchen to brew some tea. Taking out some fresh clothes and collecting the dirty, smelling ones from the floor in front of the bathroom, Chanyeol threw him into the washing machine.

By the time Baekhyun had finished his shower and walked into the living room, Chanyeol had prepared a cup of tea and a glass of water. “Here, drink something.”

“Thanks,” Baek smiled, reaching for the tea cup. “And thanks for the clothes. Is this new?” He asked, pointing at the shirt Chanyeol had given to him. It sat loose on his body and almost swallowed his whole frame. “It looks nice.”

“It is new,” Yeol nodded, sitting down on the couch as well. “Had to renew my whole wardrobe. I never noticed how lanky I was.”

“You were not lanky,” Baek chuckled. “Just not as fit as you are now. How often to you have the boxing classes? You’ve put on a lot for the fact that you do this for only a couple of months.”

“I added some regular workout at the gym as well. I go there every day after work.”

“Every day? Wow. Why though?”

“Envy?” Yeol joked. “The guys at the boxing gym look great but I also noticed that my arms changed but nothing else. It started to look a little weird.”

“But why every day?”

“It helps me relaxing. It’s just half an hour but it’s really great to just power yourself out. You feel much lighter after it. Also, I stopped seeing my therapist. He said that I’m good on my own from now on.”

Baek nodded his head. “Maybe I should start something like that, too. Sometimes the job really tugs at my nerves.”

“Well, you can’t do any tough sports, at least for now but what about yoga?”

“Yoga?” Baekhyun eyed his husband. “Really? I want to calm down and not fall asleep.”

Chanyeol laughed out at the comment. “Well, then what about swimming?”

“I am bad at swimming and you know that. Shall I remind you of our vacation? The ocean almost swallowed me!”

“You could properly learn it. And as far as I know swimming is a good exercise for expecting people.”

“Alright,” Baek said. “Then prepare to get a call from the police that’ll tell you that I’ve drowned.”

Chuckling, Yeol shook his head. “Then let’s go swimming together,” he said. “I’ll bring some floaties.”

“Oh you,” Baek grumbled, playfully hitting the taller in the shoulder. “But if you come with me, I’d give it a try.”

“Great,” Chanyeol smiled. “There’s a pool close to your parents house, right? I could pick you up from work every other day and would drop you off there after it.”

“Every other day?” Baek made a face. “Can’t we start with every third or fourth day?”

“So, does that mean you only have stress at work every third to fourth day?”

Baek rolled his eyes. “Of course not,” the said. “I have stress almost every da-okay,” he then sighed. “Every other day is fine. When do we start?”

“I’ll pick you up on Monday?”

“Monday?! That’s in two days.”

“Exactly,” Yeol laughed. “Every other day.”

♥

“You look much more relaxed than the first time you‘ve been here.”

Baek bashfully smiled but nodded at the therapists words.

“And what do I see there?” She smiled, eyes falling onto her patients middle. “A tiny bulge. How far are you now?”

“20th week.”

“Oh, perfect time to find out the gender. Do you want to know?”

“No,” Baek said, smiling as he gazed at Chanyeol. “We decided to keep it a surprise.”

“That’s nice to hear. Also, you two look great. How many dates have you been on in the past six weeks?”

“A few,” Chanyeol answered. “But we meet every two days and go swimming together.”

“Oh, how comes?”

“Chanyeol started working out in order to release the stress he has at work so I thought I should do something too and since I’m not the best swimmer we agreed on going there together.”

“And? Does it help you?”

“A lot,” Baek answered, nodding his head. “I feel very good after it. I’m still surprised that it helps me to relax that much. I mean, it’s not a heavy work out after all.”

“That’s good to hear,” the woman smiled. She then turned her head to Chanyeol. “Why did you start working out?”

Chanyeol hummed. “Well, I noticed that I was very frustrated all the time. I started a therapy and my therapist suggested to do some sports.”

“When did you realize that you that?”

“I-” Chanyeol paused, laughing out a little. “I noticed that I was frustrated almost every day when I came home and after a while I started to wonder why this frustration didn’t go away. It wasn’t unusual for me to come home frustrated but I never stayed frustrated about work for long.”

“So, and eventually you realized it.”

“Yes.”

“I’m confused,” Baek brought out. “What did you realize?”

“I realized why I suddenly stayed so frustrated,” Chanyeol told him.

“And what’s the reason?”

“You.”

“M-me,” Baek pointed at himself, blinking his eyes in confusion. 

“Yes,” the taller nodded. “I suddenly wasn’t able to let my anger out on you anymore. I realized that every time I came home to you frustrated, we further into the evening started to fight. So, in the end I still was frustrated but not anymore because of my work but our fight.”

While Baekhyun’s mouth fell open a little, the therapist smiled. “That’s a very good realization. Did my colleague already end your therapy?”

“He did, yes,” Yeol nodded. “It wasn’t long but it helped me a lot. When he first ended the therapy I was a little nervous but all is good. There were a few days where I had stress at work and then met Baekhyun but-” He gazed at Baek for a second, smiling. “I’m sure he did not notice at all.”

“I really did not,” Baek uttered. He stared at his husband for a while, trying to recall any tensed behavior Chanyeol had shown in the past weeks but he couldn’t. The taller always was very calm and relaxed. “Uhm,” humming he turned to look at the psychologist. “D-do you think that if Chanyeol would not have started the therapy or working or changing something at all we would’ve fought in public.”

The therapist broke into a soft smile. “I don’t know, maybe, maybe not. Did you ever fight in public?”

Chanyeol cleared his throat and lowered his head a little as Baekhyun gave an ashamed nod. “Once.” 

“What happened back then?” They were asked. “What caused the fight?”

“M-my jealousy,” Baek mumbled. “W-we were out with friends an-”

“You already told me the cause,” the woman said. “You don’t have to give me details about the fight. But, I’d like to know how it ended?”

Chanyeol laughed out, running a hand through his black hair. “Not exactly exemplary,” he said, shaking his head a little. “After the whole bar was audience of us yelling at each other, I left.”

“I assume you did not go home.”

“Right, I spent the night out just running around the streets until it was like four in the morning.”

“And when you got home?”

“I was greeted not very nicely but I was already guessing that.”

“How do you feel when things like this happen?”

“You mean when Baek is struck by jealousy?”

The therapist nodded. “Yes.”

“I feel helpless,” Chanyeol said. “I’m upset too but mostly, I feel helpless.”

“Why do you feel like that?”

“Because I don’t know why he’s jealous. I’ve never given him a reason to be jealous, at least that’s why I think. When we’re out, we’re out alone or with our friends and, hell, I’m not a flirty person. I’m glad that I was able to flirt with him back then without embarrassing myself to the bones.”

The comment was able to tickle out a chuckle from the therapist and a smile from Baekhyun. “How do you react when he’s jealous?”

“I try to stick by his side when I sense him getting a little annoyed but it doesn’t help at all.”

The woman nodded. “I see,” she said, then gazing at the expecting. “Why do you get jealous?”

Baek sighed. “I don’t know,” he brought out in a whisper. “I’ve always been jealous, I guess.”

Leaning into her chair, the psychologist hummed. “You said you’re together for eight years, right? You’re both 26 now, means you’ve been together since you’re 18. So, you met in school?”

“Yes.”

“During the time you met, dated, fell in love, did something happen in that time? Did people say something about you two dating?”

“Well,” Baek said. “Many of our classmates and even friends always said that we would not make a good couple.”

“What?” Chanyeol gasped. “Really? I never knew that? What did they say?”

“They always said that I’d not suit you. You were good-looking, tall, basketball playing heartbreaker and I was nothing more than a bookworm. They always said that we’d not last long.”

Frowning and leaning over a little, Chanyeol reached out for the smaller’s hand. “Baek, why did you never tell me?”

“I d-don’t know. I-”

“Did you believe their words?” The therapist asked. 

Baekhyun immediately nodded. “Y-yes.”

“Are you still afraid to lose your husband?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you’re married for already five years? Even though you have a home together? Even though you’re having a baby soon?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Baekhyun’s lower lip began to quiver and soon tears were falling from his eyes. “I’m a-afraid that there s-someday will be someone that f-fits Chanyeol better than I do and that’ll he leave me.”

“And why do you think he’d do that?”

“I d-don’t know.”

The woman smiled and leaned forwards. “Shall I tell what I think?”

Baek gave a faint nod, sniffing a little.

“I think that the man to your right loves you more than anything else in the world and that you really don’t have to worry that he’ll ever leave you for someone else. Yes, he might have hurt you, have let out his frustration on you but because of you he’s here right now. Because of you he decided to start a therapy, because of you he decided to change something. All the ups and downs you have had in the past years he was willing to endure because he loves you.”

Turning his head to the side, Baekhyun met his husband’s soft, lips closed smile. “I’m s-sorry.”

“That’s not what you should say right now,” the therapist whispered, giving a playful wink. 

Chanyeol laughed out as Baekhyun loudly broke into tears, bawling out like a little kid. He got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around the smaller and his shaking shoulders. “I love you too,” he said, pressing a loving kiss against Baekhyun’s temple.

♥

After the quite emotional meeting with their therapist, Chanyeol and Baekhyun decided to go and grab something to eat together. Sitting in a small, cozy diner they enjoyed some simple burger with fries and a delicious homemade lemonade.

“How did you feel when the therapy turned so emotional?”

The question caught Baek a little of guard. “Uh,” he brought out. “It was a little overwhelming to be honest. And I was a little embarrassed that I cried like that.”

“Don’t be, I cried too. Actually, I cried on my first meeting with my therapist.”

“R-really? Why?”

“He got straight to the point,” Chanyeol said, sighing softly. “And realizing that I’ve hurt you the way I did hit me pretty hard. I’m sorry for that. I’ve never realized how hurtful words can be.”

“I need to apologize too,” Baek said. 

Chanyeol smiled softly. “We’re on a good way,” he said. “And I know that we’ll never go back to that-” “failed chapter of our marriage?”

“Yeah, let’s call it like that,” Yeol laughed. 

“Do you miss me?” Baekhyun asked.

“Like hell.”

“Can I come home?”

Chanyeol smiled but shook his head. “Not yet.”

“But when? I don’t want to sleep alone anymore.”

Reaching over the table, Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s hand. He gave it a squeeze. “Give me little more time, okay?”

A faint whine escaped the smaller. “How much time? A week?”

Chanyeol laughed out. “Alright, a week.”

Satisfied with the answer Baekhyun hummed. “Can I ask for something else?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I want you to kiss me tonight,” he said. “No more hugs when you tell me goodbye.”

“I think I can do that.”

“Great,” Baek said, flashing his husband a happy smile. “Will you treat me for some dessert as well? I crave something sweet and delicious.”

Humming, the taller thought. “I know a very nice cake shop close to here. They have the most delicious and sweet strawberry cream cakes you’ll ever taste.”

“You should definitely take me there.”

The evening ended with Baek getting his desired dessert and the kiss he had asked for. He whined as Chanyeol pulled back, losing the kiss. “More,” he pouted. “One more, please.”

“You’re lucky you’re irresistible,” Yeol chuckled, of course leaning back in for another kiss.

Baekhyun really did not want the evening to come to an end and so he was a little sulky as Chanyeol dropped him off at his parents house. “Shall we go and see and a movie this week?”

“Ah, sorry but I won’t have time this week.”

“Oh, okay,” Baek voiced out. “B-but, uh, you’ll have time on Wednesday, right? I mean you’ll come to the check-up?”

“Of course I’ll come but otherwise I won’t have time.”

“So, no swimming?”

“No, sorry.”

“Why don’t you have time?”

“I, uh, I’m b-busy with work.”

Baekhyun frowned at the bumpy answer but nodded anyways. “Too bad.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Yeah, but don’t worry. When you come home next week, I won’t be busy anymore.”

“I hope. The little dwarf and I want a lot of attention.”

As the baby was mentioned, Chanyeol gazed at the bulge that was hidden beneath Baekhyun’s shirt. He reached over and gave the little bump a rub. “Prepare, I’ll give both of you all the attention you need.”

“You better prepare,” Baek laughed out. “That’s going to be a lot of attention.” 

“I think I can handle that,” Yeol winked. “And now hurry before your mother comes out, I already saw her spying on us.”

“Call me, okay?”

“I will,” Chanyeol nodded, pecking Baekhyun’s lips as he smaller leaned over for a final kiss. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight. And don’t forget to call me.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

He had promised but somehow he didn’t keep it and it bothered Baekhyun a lot. After the check-up on Wednesday morning, Chanyeol disappeared and was completely out of reach of the expecting.

Baekhyun had tried to call Chanyeol like a thousand times but the taller was just not picking up. He did not pick up his cellphone, nor the phone in his office or the phone at home and the more Baekhyun tried to reach his husband the more worried he got that something might have happened to him. 

Excusing himself from work early, Baek rushed to their apartment. A sigh left him as he saw Chanyeol standing in front of the building. Paying the cab driver, he got out of the taxi and walked up to his husband. “Yeol?”

Chanyeol flinched, swiftly turning around. “Baek,” the name left him in a surprised tone. “What are you doing here?”

Baekhyun eyed the taller for a second, frowning at the weird outfit the was wearing. “I tried to call you but you never pick up, no matter how many times I’ve tried it. I even called your office phone.”

“Oh, yeah. Uh, I’m not working at the moment. I took two weeks off.”

“What?” Baek shook his head in confusion. “You told me that you’d be busy with work. Why did you lie to me? And what’s with this outfit?” Pointing at the dirty boiler suit, he raised a brow. “Chanyeol, really. Why did you lie to me?”

“Hey, calm down a little,” Yeol said, stepping towards his husband he put his hands on the small shoulders. “It was supposed to be a surprise but I guess I have to tell you now.”

“Yes, please,” Baek said. “W-what’s going on?”

“Come, get in the car.”

“In the car? Where are we going?”

“To the surprise,” Chanyeol smiled. “Now, hop in.”

Baekhyun was confused as Chanyeol started the car and drove them to an area across the city. He knitted his brows together as the car came to halt in front of a small single family house. “What are we doing here?”

“You’ll see.”

“Who’s living here?” Baek asked as he followed Chanyeol up to the front door. “Wait,” he gasped as the tall man fumbled a key out of his pocket. “Why do you have a key?”

Unlocking the front door, Chanyeol pushed it open and gestures Baek to step into the house. The smaller did as he was told and walked into the hallway. Looking around the friendly entrance area, Baekhyun waited for Chanyeol to follow him. “Shall I take off my shoes?”

“If you want.”

“Really Yeol, who’s living here? They seem not to be home. It’s quiet.”

“Oh, they are home,” Yeol smiled. “They just arrived.”

“Wh-” Baekhyun’s breath hitched as he suddenly spotted a picture frame hanging on the wall above a white dresser that decorated the hallway. Narrowing his eyes, he stepped to the dresser and leaned closer to the frame. “That’s-” he turned back to Chanyeol while pointing at the photo, “That’s us.”

Chanyeol nodded. “Surprise.”

“W-wait, this house is ours?”

“Surprise.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Yeol smiled. “I actually wanted to surprise you with it on Tuesday.”

“On Tuesday? Why on Tuesday?”

Chanyeol raised a brow. “Tuesday is September 1st?”

“Oh! Oh my yeah, you’re ri-wait, this house was supposed to be my anniversary gift?”

“Yes.”

“Yeol, this is c-crazy. What’s the apartment?”

“I sold it,” Yeol said. “I thought a house with garden is much more child friendly than the apartment.”

“B-but this must’ve been expensive.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I was able to sell the apartment for quite a good price and I did a lot of the renovations works in here by myself. That's why I wear this outfit, by the way. I brought the dryer and the washing machine over an hour ago and was about to go to clean the laundry room as you showed up.”

“I can’t believe it.”

“Oh you better do,” Yeol laughed. “Because this is where you’ll live from now on, I mean only if still want to come back to me of course.”

The mischievous grin Chanyeol flashed him had Baek playfully rolling his eyes. He shook his head and then turned away from the taller, looking around the hallway again. “Can I take a look?”

“Of course you can, what kind of question is that?” Toeing his dirty sneakers off, Chanyeol walked past the smaller. “Come, I’ll show you around.”

Baekhyun’s heart was thumping in his chest as he followed his husband further into the house. They first stopped to take a look at the kitchen and Baek had to squeal at the stone wall that highlighted the room, giving it a rustic chic. He always had dreamed of having a real stone wall since he had always been fan of kitchens in country styles.

Next to the kitchen the ground floor of the house also had a laundry room, a guest bathroom and a living room that had Baekhyun gasping. The big room was flooded with light due to the panorama windows that offered a perfect view into the garden. The rustic style from the kitchen was reflected by a fireplace. It’s mantle piece was already decorated with picture frames and Baekhyun smiled at the photos. “It’s beautiful.”

“Ready to see the upper floor then?”

Upstairs Baekhyun was shown a room Chanyeol had furnished as an office and another bathroom. “What’s in there?”

 

“Go in,” Yeol said, nodding his head at the door.

Moving towards to the door, Baek reached for the doorknob and twisted it. Stepping into the room he smiled. “It’s our bedroom.”

“Yes,” his husband said, hugging him from behind. “With two highlights,” he then added. “Our bathroom has a beautiful freestanding bath tub and you finally got the walk-in-closet you always dreamed of.”

Turning into his husbands embrace, Baek tiptoed to press a kiss to his lips. “Do you remember what we did to inaugurate our apartment back then?”

“How could I forget,” Yeol smirked.

“We should do the same to inaugurate this house, don’t you think?”

“But you haven’t seen all of it yet.”

“I don’t care,” Baek said, grabbing Chanyeol by the collar of his boiling suit. “I want it it. Now.. I want you.”

Pulling down the zipper of the boilersuit and pushing it off Chanyeol’s shoulder was almost as unwrapping a gift. Baekhyun bit down his lip at the sight of the tones upper body and smirked as Chanyeol let out a soft laugh. His desire of touching his husband had grown to a maximum in the past few weeks. Being able to see Chanyeol’s new defined body at their regular meetings at the swimming pool were great but finally being able to touch it was a thousand times better.

And the fact that Chanyeol wore nothing much except his underwear underneath the blue overwall made everything very easy. “Believe me. I missed you just as much as you missed me,” Yeol whispered, slowly cupping Baekhyun’s face. “We have all time in the world.”

“I hope so,” Baek whispered back, leaning in for a kiss. “Because I want you to make love to me.”

“I will.”

“All night long.”

“With pleasure.”

♥

Baekhyun blinked his eyes open to a bird sitting on the windowsill loudly chirping a song. Yawning he sat up, looking over to the window of his new bedroom. Drawing his eyes away from the small bird outside the window, he looked at his husband. Chanyeol was still sound asleep, laying on his side and softly snoring. His black hair was a tousled mess and his broad shoulders moved from his calm breaths.

Yawning a second time the expecting stretched his arms over his head, bringing them back down when the tiny human under his heart kicked out. “Good morning to you too,” he whispered, giving his belly a rub. “Shall we get something to eat?”

Slipping out of the bed Baekhyun rushed into the walk-in-closet to grab a pair of boxers and a shirt from his husband. Pulling the shirt over his head on his way out of the bedroom, he quietly closed the door behind him and tiptoed down the hall. As he walked past a room door next to the bathroom, he stopped. 

Not having seen the room on his tour the day before, Baek pushed the slightly open door fully open. His eyes widened at what lay behind it. The cream colored room was furnished with an off-white cradle as well as a small closet and a changing table that were held in the same color. On the floor lay a cloud shaped, shaggy rug and adorable, little stars were painted on the ceiling above the baby bed. A light blue arm chair and a small table stood close to the window, rounding off the picture.

Moving further into the room, Baekhyun noticed a cute little detail by the changing table. Above it, on the wall. hung a row of little picture frames with all the ultrasound images, of their unborn baby, they had so far. “Do you like it?”

Smiling Baekhyun turned his head towards the door. “I love it.”

Chanyeol, who leaned against the door frame, pushed himself off wooden frame and walked over to his husband. “I admit, I was a little nervous about it.”

“Why though?” Baek asked, tracing his finger along the taller’s collar bone. “You know me well enough to know what I like and what not.”

“That might me be true, but still. I was a little nervous.”

“Well, you don’t have to be anymore. I really love it. It’s amazing, the whole house is amazing. Thank you.”

“Anything for you, my love,” Chanyeol smiled and leaned down for a kiss.

“Anything?”

“Well-” Yeol hummed. “As long as I don’t have to murder someone, yes. Anything.”

“I’d really love to take a bath with you in that beautiful freestanding tub you’ve spoken off yesterday.”

Chanyeol hummed. “Then I better hurry and run some water in, huh?”

“Yes please,” Baek said. “I’ll be right there. I’ll just go and get something to drink.”

“Glasses and cups are in the cupboard left from the fridge.”

After getting himself something to drink and taking another quick look at the rooms on the ground floor, Baekhyun made his way to the bedroom. He stripped down, leaving his clothes on the bedroom floor before he then walked into the bathroom. Chanyeol was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, checking the temperature of the water with his hand. 

He turned his head to look at Baekhyun as he walked further into the room, showing no reaction at all. “I-is something wrong?” Baek carefully asked. 

His question seemed to have pulled Chanyeol out of his thoughts. “What?” The man asked, blinking his eyes.

“I asked if something’s wrong?”

“No,” Yeol said, breaking into a smile. “Not at all. It’s just-” He paused for a second. “After all this years I’m still fascinated by how beautiful you are.”

The sudden words caused Baekhyun to blush a little. “Really?” He asked to cover up that he was actually flattered by the compliment. “I think I’ve gained a little too much weight in the past month,” turning a little he showed his husband the side of his hips and butt. “Don’t you think?”

Chanyeol shook his head while he let his eyes wander up and down the naked skin. “Not at all. You look perfect to me. And with every pound you gain, I get a little more of you to love.”

“Gosh, you can be such a cheeseball. I almost forgot.”

Chanyeol only gave agrin and stood up from the tub. “That’s what you fell for eight years ago, don’t even try to deny it.”

Baek clicked his tongue as he watched Chanyeol taking off his boxers. “Be lucky that I did.”

“Oh believe me, I am.”

As Chanyeol climbed into the tub, Baekhyun tilted his head a little. “Do you do squats when you work out?”

“Why?” Chanyeol asked, turning his head to peek at his behind. 

“Just asking, your butt looks good.”

The tall man laughed out at the comment. “Didn’t it always look good?”

“It did,” Baek said, stepping towards the tub. “But it’s looks much rounder and firmer now.” Giving Chanyeol’s butt a playful pat he grinned at the man. 

“Well yeah, working out has some benefits.” Sitting down into the warm water, Chanyeol stretched out his legs. “What now? Are you coming in?”

 

Also getting into the tub, Baekhyun sat down between his husbands legs and leaned back against his chest. Resting his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder, he closed his eyes as the tall man’s hands found rest on the swell of his bump.

“Shall we get your stuff today?”

Baek shook his head. “No,” he said in a quiet voice. “I just want to stay here with you today.”

“Alright,” Yeol said, pressing a kiss to the smaller’s temple. “Shall we do it like back then when we’re still in college?”

“You mean pizza and movies?”

“Yeah, and cuddles and kisses.”

Baek broke into a giggle as Chanyeol dug the tips of his fingers into his sides. “Sounds perfect, I’m up for that.”

After their bath and a quick breakfast the couple moved back to bed. Closely snuggled together they shared loving kisses and innocent touches, simply enjoying each others company.

Chanyeol brought a hand to Baekhyun’s belly, humming as he felt a kick against his palm. “Quite active our sprout, huh?”

Baekhyun smiled. “All the time.”

“When did you feel it first time?”

“I was about to sleep when I first felt it. It was not really a kick but it was weird feeling and after it happened again I eventually realized that it was the baby.” Baek gazed at Chanyeol, touching the man’s jaw with the tips of his fingers. “It’s a little sad that you’re not there. I’d like to have shared this moment with you.”

Chanyeol hummed. “I know this is all a little chaotic and not how we imagined it to be but I promise to be there from the start next time.”

“Next time?” Baek chuckled. “This child is not even born yet and you already talk about another?”

“Well, yeah. At least I hope there will be a next time.”

“If it’s up to me there will be a dozen more times.”

“A dozen? Oof, I’m not sure if I can do that.”

Baek watched as Chanyeol laughed, admired how his eyes curved and the dimple on his cheek appeared. As the laughter faded, he smiled at him. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“You told me to give you a reason. But what if I would not have had this baby as a reason?”

Chanyeol smiled. “I know that you’d have found another.”

“But what if not?”

“You would have. Even if it would have been nothing but you telling me that you love me.”

“I could just have told you that I love you that day?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol nodded. “I was waiting for it.”

“But you wanted to have a life changing reason. And you sa-” “What I said back then was nothing but hot air. I was close to crying that day. We split so easily and I was sure that I would lose you forever that day.”

“W-why?”

“You were doing so much better without me. No more tears because I let my frustration out on you. No more tears because I ignored you in my sulky state.”

Baekhyun breathed in. “B-but weren’t you doing better as well?”

“I was but I also wasn’t,” Yeol said. “Being separated from you opened my eyes that I have to change something but it also was hell. Waking up alone, knowing that you’d not be there the whole day was hard to endure. And-”

Moving a little, Baekhyun turned to have a full view on his husband. “And?”

“I was afraid that you’d meet someone,” the man said. “The thought alone drove me crazy.”

Baekhyun cracked a smile at the words. Bringing his hands up, he cupped Chanyeol’s face. “That feeling was mutual.”

They looked at each other, eyes wandering over the inches of their faces until they eventually leaned in for a kiss. “We’re starting over and I know that we’ll do it.”

Baekhyun nodded, slowly blinking his eyes open as Chanyeol breathed the words against his lips. “Yes,” he smiled. “We will.”

♥

Moving back in together, Baekhyun felt as if he had woken up in a new life. Yes, he had been moving back in with his husband, the man he had been together for the past eight year, the man that knew him better than anyone else and yet it their life back together was much different from before.

Everything was much better organized and their communication was as good as it had never ever been before. Every little tension that was able to sneak itself into their daily life got immediately sorted out by talking about it. 

But even though they were able to reduce tension they brought home from outside their house, there was something they could not just simply talk about; Baekhyun’s mood swings. 

With entering the second trimester Baekhyun got hit by the most strongest and weirdest mood swings he had ever experienced. From one second to the other he was able to go from happy and cheerful to crying and he could not tell why. And the fact that he could not tell why he was emotionally all over the place annoyed the heck out of him. 

“Oh my fucking god, why?!”

The expectings growl lured Chanyeol out of his office. Walking over to their baby’s nursery the man peeked into the room. Baekhyun sat on the carpet in front of the bed, going through a large parcel of clothes he had ordered. “Babe?”

“What?”

“Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?”

Chanyeol raised a brow at the grumble. “Well, you look a little angry.”

“Am I angry, look at this shit?” Baek growled, holding up a piece of cloth. “This is brown and not beige!”

“Are you really angry at that right now? You could simply send it back.”

“Excuse me,” Baek dramatically gasped. “There was only one in beige left and I really wanted to have it!” The young man frowned as he noticed an amused, hidden smile on his husbands face. “Do you think that’s funny?”

“A little, yes.”

“God really, you’re unbelievable.” 

Raising his hands in defense, Chanyeol looked at his husband. “Sorry,” he apologized. “It’s not funny, of course. Shall I call the costumer support and ask if they could send us the right one?”

“Are you deaf or something?! I told you that the one I ordered was the last one. They for sure don’t have one left!”

“Well, we could try?”

 

“For what? To get the confirmation that they fucked up my order?!”

Chanyeol sighed. “I’m just trying to help. Maybe they can solve the problem. We could try.”

“Well, then go and try if you want!” Baek spat. “And don’t stop sighing like this!”

The IT specialist clenched his jaw, preventing another sigh from escaping him. “Alright, I’ll leave you alone then. Uh, do you want to have something from the convenience store?”

Baekhyun frowned. “Convenience store, why convenience store? The next one is 2 miles away.”

“Yes, I know,” Yeol nodded. “I’m going for a run and will pass it, so do you want me to stop by?”

“Why the hell would you go for a run now? It’s almost 10pm!”

“Baby please, don’t question it right now.”

Baekhyun let out a huff as Chanyeol turned away and left. “Hey,” he called after him, getting up as fast as possible but even halfway down the stairs, the man was already out of the door. Boiling inside he stomped back to the nursery, sitting back down in front of the parcel.

As he reached for the wrongly delivered romper to grumble over it again, his mood suddenly changed. The more he looked at it, the more he actually began to like the tiny piece of cloth. It was for sure not the desired color but the light brown of the romper matched perfectly with the little owl pattern it had on the right side.

“Oh god,” he loudly sighed as he realized that Chanyeol left the house because of him and his sudden unbearable attitude. Gazing down his body, he eyed his baby bump. “Why mood swings, huh?” He asked. “Why not morning sickness or swollen feet? You know, you’re not making it easy for your Daddy and me to get back on track.”

Putting the cloth away, Baek got back up and left the nursery. Sitting down on the third last step of the stairs, he waited for Chanyeol to come back. When the taller finally was back, he raised a surprised brow at him. “Baek? Babe, why are you sitting on the stairs? Are you okay?”

“I am,” Baek said while getting up. “I wanted to apologize. I’m sorry.”

The pout Baekhyun put on had Chanyeol smiling. “Don’t be, I know that those mood swings are not easy for you.”

“But still,” the smaller mumbled. “Because of me you went out for a run, right?”

“Right. But still, you should not be sorry. Look, I brought you something.”

Baek watched as Chanyeol reached into the pockets of his hoodie and pulled out two packages of pocky on each side. “Strawberry, cookies and cream, banana and white chocolate.” His eyes lit up at the words. “I don’t deserve them, though,” he mumbled, still feeling sorry.

“Nonsense,” Yeol laughed, waving the packages a little. “How about sharing them, huh? I’ll jump into the shower and you switch on the TV, your favorite crime series started in a few, right?”

Baek nodded. “Alright,” he said as Chanyeol handed him the pocky over. “Shall I prepare something to drink?”

“What are you up to?”

“Hot milk with honey?”

The tall man laughed out. “Sounds perfect.” He stole a kiss from the other’s pink lips before he gently pushed past him. “I’ll be right back.”

As Chanyeol went to wash off the sweat from his run Baekhyun made his way to the kitchen, preparing two big cups of hot milk with a spoonful of honey. His husband was back downstairs as Baekhyun made himself comfy on the couch, switching on the TV. 

“It got colder these days,” Chanyeol said as he sat down next to the smaller. “It’s much colder than yesterday.”

Baek hummed, making a face. “Hopefully this winter won’t be too cold.”

“Well, this winter nobody would blame you for staying inside all day,” Yeol chuckled, playfully patting the older’s baby bump.

Baek smiled and gazed at the hand that lay on his middle. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” his husband nodded. “Is something bothering you?”

“Yeah,” Baek sighed. “It bothers me that we still have this stronger tension between us where one of us kinda flees from the situation. I had the hope that we would’ve changed a little more until now.”

Laughing out, Chanyeol wrapped an arm around his love and cuddled him. “Oh baby, you should be little more patient.”

“But it really bothers me,” Baek whined, pouting. “How do you feel when I leave at such situations?”

“Well, it singals me that I’ve probably done something wrong,” Chanyeol said.

“It doesn’t bother you?”

“No, not at all. This way I can think of what I’ve done wrong or what have caused you to draw a line.”  
he expecting let out a sound. “Gosh, am I just not receptive for that?” He grumbled. “I mean, I eventually got why you went for a run but it took me a while and that bothers me lot.”

“If it makes you feel better, I also sometimes really have to think of why you reacted the way you did,” Chanyeol said. “And, we should not forget that you’re under the control of a lot of hormones at the moment.”

“Still.”

“Baby,” the taller laughed out at the face Baekhyun made. “We made a phenomenal progress ever since we started the therapy and we should be proud of that.”

Eventually Baekhyun nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. We really should be proud. Maybe all those weird hormones just make me not realize it yet.”

“Maybe.”

“Speaking of hormones,” gazing up, Baek put on a bashful smile. “While you’re gone my hate for the romper turned into love.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, I really like it now. It’s cute.”

“So, no call to the customer support?”

“Well,” Baek started. “I mean, we could try but it would be okay if we don’t call them. I’m fine with the brown one.”

Smiling, Chanyeol set a kiss on his husbands nose. “You’ve got my greatest respect for dealing with all this stuff, you know.”

“Thank you.”

“And don’t worry, even though I might leave you for a while to just take breath, I know that you don’t mean it. It’s just that I have to step back to not snap at you.”

“I’d deserve it though,” Baek pouted. “Sometimes I’m really mean.”

“Well, sometimes, yes.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re forgiven,” Chanyeol said, pecking Baekhyun’s puckered lips. “What did you order by the way? Don’t we have enough clothes yet?”

“Yes but also no,” Baek mumbled. “I mean, we have a lot but I kinda have enough of buying non gender specific clothes. I have the feeling as if all the clothes look the same.”

Chanyeol let out a surprised sound. “Oh, so does it mean you want to know the gender?”

“I don’t know,” the expecting whined loudly. “Somehow yes, but also no. I don’t know maybe it’s just the hormones. Or maybe it’s just my mom. It bothers me a lot that she sends over all this cream colored unisex clothes. We’ve got the same onesie three times now!”

Chanyeol let out a hum. It was true though. Ever since his mother-in-law learned that she’d have a grandchild she started to send over parcels full of clothes and other baby necessary utensils. Their cupboards were now scrammed with countless of bottles in different sizes and way too many dummies. “If it really bothers you that much we should ask for the gender the next time we see the doctor.”

“You think?”

“Yeah,” Yeol gave a nod. “It’s end of September now, you still have a hand full of months to go and do you really want to live with that discontent until January?”

“No, not really.”

“See, then it’s set. Next time we’ll ask if our sprout is a boy or a girl. And after we know we stop by at the next baby shop and you can hop around, getting all the clothes you like.”

Baek wiggled in joy at the words. “That sounds awesome,” he grinned. As if the baby knew that they talked about it, he felt a kick and gazed down to the bump. “What do you think it is?”

“I think it’s a boy.”

“Really? Why?”

Chanyeol shrugged as his hand came to rest on top of his baby’s temporary home. “I don’t know, it’s just a feeling but I think it’s a boy.”

“And what if it’s a girl?”

“Then I’ll start building a huge doll house right away, hoping that she’ll like it once she’s old enough to play with it.”

“And what if our son would like to have a doll house?”

“Then he’ll get one. Whatever my baby wants to have he or she will get it.”

Baek laughed out. “We’ll talk about this again when the ask for a puppy comes up.”

Chanyeol joined in, laughing out softly. “As if you’d say no to a puppy.”

“Well,” Baek grinned. “That’s true though. So, you can already prepare to be a dog daddy soon, too.”

“I think I can do that.”

“You know, the garden is big enough for more than one puppy to play in though.”

“How about baby first and then dogs?”

Baek hummed. “Okay, I guess I can wait another year.”

“One year?”

“Yes, if dog then as soon as possible,” the expecting nodded. “Kids who grow up with pets are less susceptible to allergies and don’t get sick so often.”

“Oh, someone is well informed.”

“Of course I am. I want to be a good parent after all.”

Chanyeol chuckled at the comment. “Even without that knowledge you’ll be a great parent.”

Baekhyun’s lips curled into a smile. “Thanks.”

“I mean it, baby. Never ever doubt that, You’ll do great.”

“I’m a little afraid that we could fall into our old behaviors once the baby is there,” Baekhyun stated after a short term of silence. “You know, that the lack of sleep could cause new fights between us. A baby changes your whole life after all.”

“I’m not really worried about that. I think we’ll do great,” Yeol smiled.

“There’s not even one thing you worry about?”

“Well, maybe there is.”

Baekhyun raised a curious brow at his husband and the chuckle he let out. “And what’s that?”

“Nah, it’s not that important.”

“But I want to know now, so spill it.”

Chanyeol laughed out again, shaking his head a little. “You know what they say to expecting parents, right? Say goodbye to silence, goodbye to a clean house, goodbye to lazy weekends and goodbye to-”

“Sex,” Baek finished. “So, that’s what worries you? That our sex life loses out?”

The taller shrugged. “Well, I mean who wants to have sex when you’re tired as hell?”

“It really worries you?”

“Honey, you’re walking sex on legs. It’s nice looking at you but I rather have you moan my name all night then just fapping to the thought of you.”

“It really does worry you!” 

Chanyeol nodded. “A little, yes. I mean, there are many couples out there who are struggling with this issue after their first child.”

Baekhyun hummed at the words, nodding his head slightly. “Well,” he then said. “I cannot guarantee that this phase won’t hit you but-” He leaned closer to his husband, smiling at him. “We have a couple of months left to have plenty of sex.”

“So, you think having plenty of sex until the dwarf arrives makes us miss it less in case the no-sex-phase strikes?” Chanyeol asked, snickering as Baekhyun gave a confident nod. “So, and when do you want to start with this preliminary work?”

“How about right now?”

Chanyeol hummed as Baekhyun pushed himself up to press a kiss to his mouth. “That sounds very tempting but lets move to our bed for that.”

“Then let’s hurry.”

Barely having stepped into their bedroom, Baekhyun was pulled into a breathtaking kiss. He held onto Chanyeol’s hoodie, squeezing the soft fabric as Chanyeol gently pushed him backwards towards their bed. 

His own sweater soon found a new place on the floor, together with the shirt he was wearing underneath it and the pair of sweatpants he had put on earlier after his shower. A soft whine slipped past his lips as his back hit the soft mattress and fingers were hooked into his boxers. “You too.”

“Be a little more patient, babe,” Yeol chuckled, pulling the small piece of underwear down Baekhyun’s legs. “You may have talked about plenty of sex in the upcoming months but I still want to enjoy it.”

A shiver ran down Baekhyun’s spine when one of his legs was lifted and Chanyeol’s lips connected with the skin of his inner thigh. The words that lay on the tip of his tongue turned into a moan as a hickey was sucked into the flesh. He grabbed onto the sheets, arching his back off the mattress a little.

When his husband finally decided to strip himself out of his clothes, Baekhyun was bathed in sweat. Heavily heaving he watched as Chanyeol teasingly slow took of his top and pushed down his pants. “C-come on,” he breathed. “Don’t make me wait any longer.”

“But maybe I want to make you wait longer,” Yeol grinned as he leaned over his husband to steal a kiss from his kiss swollen lips. “Because I love how beautifully wrecked you look.”

All Baekhyun was able to let out was a breath laugh. Gathering some strength he sat up and pushed Chanyeol, sending him onto his back. 

“Wipe off that grin,” Chanyeol was told as Baekhyun straddled him. “If you don’t give me what I want, I’ll get it myself.”

“Maybe that’s what I was intending,” the younger smirked as he let his hands run up Baekhyun’s full thighs.

Baekhyun only rolled his eyes at the taller and leaned to the side to grab the bottle of lube that lay abandoned in the messy sheets. Some drops of the cold, transparent liquid fell from the open cap and landed right above Chanyeol’s belly button, causing the man to flinch a little. 

Pouring some of the lube into the palm of his hand, Baekhyun dropped the bottle back to the mattress and then reached behind him, grasping his husbands erection. Baekhyun studied Chanyeol’s face as he lubed the proud standing inches, drinking in man’s blissful expression and soft moans that slipped past his lips. 

A moan of his own escaped Baekhyun as he finally sat down on the shaft. Pleasure shot through his body and the young expecting did not waste any more time, immediately moving to finally get the desired satisfaction. Bracing his hands on Chanyeol’s firm chest Baekhyun pushed himself up, sucking in a loud breath as the taller met his movement by snapping his hips up. 

Baekhyun made a loud moan join the sounds of skin meeting skin and heavy breath as Chanyeol’s fingers found their places on his nipples, pinching the sensitive nubs. Shuddering he dug his nails into the warm skin of his husbands chest and let his head hung forwards. “Hgnh, p-please n-no.”

Chanyeol ignored the plead and kept teasing the smaller, rubbing the pink nipples with his thumbs. Baekhyun had always been sensitive, always had intense reactions when his sweet spots were touched and teased but with the baby under his heart he got even more sensitive and Chanyeol loved it. 

He hissed a little when Baekhyun racked his nails down his chest, stopping his action for a moment. “Close?” He asked, admiring his loves flushed face and trembling legs. 

Baekhyun could not form a proper sentence, only gave a nod and a faint whine as Chanyeol thrust up. He breathed out when the tall man’s hands fell from his chest and came to rest on his hips. As the tips of Chanyeol’s fingers dug deep into the skin of his flesh he moaned out. 

He tried to move to the rhythm of Chanyeol’s thrusts but miserably failed. His trembling legs did not allow him to move any more and so he let Chanyeol take over, rasping his husbands name each time he hit his sweet spot. 

Groaning Chanyeol let his head fall back into the sheets and sped up a little when he felt his own orgasm approaching. “Fuck,” he grunted as Baek tightly clenched around him. “Just a little longer.”

Baekhyun tried but he couldn’t hold back any longer as pleasure washed over and his high hit him. With a long throaty moan and his whole body shuddering he came, shooting white ribbons of cum onto Chanyeol’s lower stomach. 

Chanyeol was fast to sit up and wrap an supporting arm around his husband before his body got lax. He kept chasing his own high, kissing Baekhyun, swallowing the mewls the smaller let out at the overstimulation. 

Eventually reaching his peak, Chanyeol pulled away from Baekhyun’s lips and let his head fall onto the smaller’s shoulder. Kissing the warm, sweaty skin he bit down the flesh as he rode out his orgasm, sucking in a deep mark. 

Baekhyun let out a shaky breath as Chanyeol lifted him up a little, pulling out. He hugged the man, trying to catch his breath while the tall man’s big hands ran up and down his back. “I love you,” he whispered, turning his head to press a light kiss to the Yeol’s neck.

Chanyeol leaned back a little with a smile painted on his lips, leaning in for a kiss. “And I love you,” he said the second before their lips met.

♥

Nine months into the pregnancy, Baekhyun couldn’t wait for it to finally be over. He was sick of no longer being overly mobile, sick of not being able to see his feet and the pain in his back was also very annoying. The only thing that kept him occupied from thinking about the negativities was shopping for his baby boy.

Once they finally learned that they’d get a son, Baekhyun started to buy the baby shops empty. He just couldn’t get enough of it, really enjoyed it and yet it also bothered him. All the new bought clothes meant work as well and in the state he was in, Baekhyun really hated the additionally trips to the laundry room. 

“Baby!”

Chanyeol was fast to come down to the living room at his rather loud whine and Baek barely lifted his head off the couch cushion when his husband peeked into the great room. 

“What is it?”

“Could you take snowflakes clothes out of the washing machine and put it into the dryer?”

Chanyeol frowned at the ask. “Did you buy more clothes?”

“I did,” Baek sighed. “I’m sorry but it’s the only thing that makes me happy at the moment. I really want it to be finally over.”

The IT specialist cracked a smile at the heavy sigh. “I’m sure it won’t take that much longer.”

“I hope,” Baek huffed and placed both of his hands on top of his round belly. “I’m really exhausted.”

Yeol hummed a little. “Will a piece of strawberry cream cake cheer you up?”

Baek lifted his head. “Strawberry cream cake?”

“Yes. I’d go and get you some.”

“Can you make two pieces?”

The tall man laughed out. “Sure,” he nodded. “I can make it two pieces if you want.”

“Then yes, please.”

“Alright,” Yeol smiled. “I’ll put the clothes into the dryer and head to the cake shop then.”

“You’re the best,” Baek called after his husband when Chanyeol left. “I love you!”

“I love you too,” Yeol said back, chuckling softly. After a quick stop at the laundry room, he grabbed his coat, slipped on his shoes and made his way to the cake shop. 

Due to heavy snowfall it took him a moment to reach the small shop and when he eventually stepped into it he wasn’t surprised to find the baker’s crowded with people. Many have fled into the shop to warm up while drinking a coffee and eating a piece of cake. 

When Chanyeol finally got the two pieces of cake for his expecting love, almost an hour had passed since he had left home. With a cup of tea for the way back home the young man walked along the snow covered streets, humming a soft melody. 

His ringing phone had him stopping for a second and he smiled as his eyes fell on Baekhyun’s name on the display. “Babe,” he laughed as answered the call. “I’m almost there, be a little more patient.”

“Y-yeol-”

Baekhyun’s raspy voice caused Chanyeol to frown deeply. “Babe? Are you okay?”

“M-my water broke. I t-think the baby is c-coming.”

Panicking a little, Chanyeol started to sprint towards home. “I’ll be right there,” he breathed into the phone. “Give me five more minutes.”

“P-please hurry.”

Eventually arrived at home Chanyeol found Baekhyun standing in the doorway of the kitchen, bracing himself on the wooden frame. Not bothering to take off his shoes, he rushed over to the smaller. 

Baekhyun cracked a smile. “I know I said I want it to be over but that’s going a little too fast,” a soft pained moan slipped past his lips when he was hit by yet another wave of pain. “Really, too fast.”

Putting a hand on Baek’s back, Chanyeol rubbed it gently while gazing down to check up on the expectings pants. “You already changed?”

“It’s like pissing your pants,” Baek stated. “It’s warm while it runs down your legs but gets cold in a blink of an eye.”

Chanyeol laughed out at the words. “Where did it break?”

“Laundry room. Thank god I could grab some towles right away.” Baekhyun let out a huff. “A little waring would’ve been nice.”

“I’ll go and grab the bags then, huh?”

Baek nodded. “Don’t forget the carrycot.”

On the way to the hospital the formerly endurable pain took a turn to its worse. Baekhyun felt as if his lower body was about to be ripped in half and it brought tears to his eyes. 

“Why is it so strong?” Chanyeol asked the nurse that brought him to the delivery room. 

The woman gave him a smile. “Seems as if your baby is in a hurry.”

Baekhyun groaned at the words, holding onto the round of his belly as he waddled along the hospital corridor. “I didn’t want that much hurry.”

“It’s a good thing, though. It’ll be much faster and easier this way.”

“Oh, okay,” the young man voiced out. “Well, then I’m fine w-oh-” his breath hitched a little and he had to stop in his tracks when another contraction hit him. “B-but why so painful?”

“Believe me, it’s worth the pain.”

“It better be.”

After reaching the delivery room, Baekhyun was connected to a CTG. Chanyeol sat down next to the bed he lay in and, in wonder, listened to the beating heart of their baby boy. “Why is it so fast?”

“Don’t worry,” the nurse said. “That’s normal. Also, it gives us the sign that the little one is more than ready to come.”

“I’m not sure if I’m ready yet.”

Chuckling the nurse patted Baek’s leg. “Sorry to say that but you have to follow the will of your child in this case.” She smiled and moved towards the door. “The midwife will be here in a minute. If you need something before they arrive just call me.”

“Alright, thank you,” Yeol said, bowing his head a little. When the door to the room fell shut behind the young woman, he turned to Baekhyun. “Seem as if your wish of it to be over was generously granted.”

Baek let out a soft laugh. “I really hope that it’ll be over as fast as she assumes it to be. This pain is no joke.”

“Are you sure you then want to increase this family to a dozen?” Chanyeol asked, raising a playful brow. 

“Maybe not a dozen. One or two more will do.”

Smiling, Chanyeol leaned over and pressed a kiss to his husbands mouth. “Once it’s time for that we’ll be much better prepared.”

“I think we’re very well prepared right now,” Baek mumbled, hissing softly as he felt a new wave of pain approaching. “We don’t miss something, do we?”

“We still lack a name for him or do you want to keep calling him snowflake?” Chanyeol gazed to the door when it opened, nodding at the midwife that stepped into the room.

“Well, for a little while longer he has to cope with that.”

The midwife tilted her head in interest. “Who has to cope with what a little while longer?”

“Our baby,” Baek answered her. “We don’t have a name for him yet so he has to cope with his nickname until we’ve found one.”

The woman smiled. “What’s his nickname?”

“Snowflake.”

“Aw, that’s cute. Because he’s a little winter baby?”

“That too,” Baek nodded, then looking at his husband. “And because that mister here didn’t like the common names such as bean or peach.”

Chanyeol shrugged. “You could’ve called him whatever you liked but I still like snowflake better than bean. Who calls their kid a bean?!”

“Well, I did,” the midwife stated with a laugh. “My second one was called mango, though.”

“Mango?” The couple asked, sounding quite amused. “Why that?”

“Oh, she didn’t seem to grow for a pretty long time and my husband always complained about that she’d still be as big as a mango and so her nickname was born. We still call her like that.”

“Is the first one still called bean, too?” Chanyeol wanted to know.

“He is, yes. He’s not happy about it but well.”

Chanyeol smiled, nodding his head a little. 

“It’s your first one, right?”

“It is,” Baek nodded, watching as the woman turned off the CTG and removed the belt from his belly. “How was your first time?”

“Oh, it was awful,” the midwife said. “I was in labor for over 24 hours. I was not happy at all and said that I’d never ever have a second child.”

“And yet you had one.”

“Oh, I even had a third and fourth one. It’s true when they say that it’s worth it. It for sure is exhausting and painful but once it’s there and you hold it in your arms, all the pain is forgotten. Being able to hold your own flesh and blood in your arms is most incredible feeling you’ll ever experience.”

Baek opened his mouth to respond but nothing more than a groan left him at the pain that shot through his body. Breathing through the contraction as it slowly subsided, he shivered a little. “T-that one was different.”

“Oh, then we better get ready.”

As the midwife helped Baekhyun to prepare Chanyeol moved from the chair he sat on to the edge of the bed, sitting down right next to his husband. His heart thumped in his chest as Baekhyun reached of his hands, holding onto them tightly. 

He tried to be as much help as possible, whispered comforting words into Baek’s ear and wiped the sweat of his forehead but in the end Chanyeol just sat there, watching as their baby was born with Baekhyun all alone being responsible for it. 

Tears watered his eyes when the faint cry of their newborn sounded up and Baekhyun let his head fall against his thigh with a loud sigh. Not knowing where to look or what to exactly do, he just cried out. 

“Oh, Daddy no time to cry yet,” the midwife smiled. “Come here.”

Breathing in Chanyeol stood up, ever so slowly taking the couple of steps it took to reach the end of the bed. His hands were shaking as he cut the cord and his eyes fell onto the tiny, naked baby. 

Skin decorated with red blotches on chest and arms and face typically crumpled for an newborn, the infant was the most beautiful thing Chanyeol had ever seen. Overwhelmed by his feelings he moved back to the head of the bed when the midwife lifted the baby over to lay it down on Baekhyun’s chest.

Baekhyun gazed at his husband, smiling. He reached up and cupped the tall man’s cheek. “Don’t cry,” he whispered, pulling Chanyeol down by his chin to meet him for a kiss. 

As the kiss loosened again, Chanyeol pressed their foreheads together. “Thank you.”

Baekhyun lifted his chin and kissed his husband again before he then turned his head to look at the baby that lay on his chest. He smiled at the slumbering infant, gently running the tips of his fingers over the boy’s tiny ear. 

Their boy was a tiny baby, even looking fragile and delicate in Baekhyun’s slender hands but he was as healthy as he could’ve been and Chanyeol’s heart was filled with so much love and pride as he watched the midwife measuring and weighing his son. “Aw, he’s such a beautiful little fella.”

“Yes,” Yeol nodded, brightly smiling. “He is.”

♥

One and a half years after their little snowflake came into their lives, many things had changed in the Park household. With their magnificently growing sprout Baek did not longer work and took the part as the stay-home-parent. Chanyeol gladly would have taken this role, staying home, cuddling his baby all day long but since he had the job with the bigger income he was forced to leave the house at least five days a week.

Next to that the couple was dismissed from the therapy they had started and it freaked Baekhyun out at first. He really had grown fond of the support they got from the therapist and the fear of falling back into old habits haunted him until he eventually realized that they have changed. Changed for the good. 

There were no fights at all and even small discussions were soothed out with instant talking. Neither of them changed what they have build up over time, still followed their routines of reducing stress by working out or simply getting a time out and it was getting them through every day, no matter how stressful it was. 

They were doing good and their happy, little baby boy was making their days even more better. “Soo,” Baek called out for the boy. “Honey, where are you?”

“Hee.”

Following the boy’s voice Baekhyun stepped out of the kitchen, laughing out as he found his son sitting in the hall in few feet away from the front door. “Honey, what are you doing?”

“Daddy,” the boy simply said, brightly smiling while pointing at the door. 

“Oh, you’re waiting for Daddy? Is it already time?”

“Ya. Ya.”

Smiling Baekhyun shook his head and turned back to the kitchen. Ever since Kyungsoo was able to walk on his own, he always waddled to the door and sat down to wait for Chanyeol to finally come home from work. 

Leaving his baby waiting, Baekhyun focused back on preparing dinner. As he was halfway through peeling the stack of potatoes he wanted to use, the front door was unlocked and a loud, excited squeal hollered through the house. “Daddy!”

“Hey there,” Chanyeol’s voice sounded up. “Have you been waiting for me?”

“Ya!”

Baekhyun smiled to himself, listening to the sounds that came from the hallway. “How’s my little snowflake doing today?” He heard Chanyeol asking their son.

“Buttafly!”

“Butterfly? You saw butterflies?”

“Ya!”

“Well, it was a pretty warm day today, I’m sure you saw a lot of them. Where’s Papa?”

Baek turned his head to the door as he heard footsteps coming closer. “Hey,” he greeted his husband, gifting him a smile.

With their son in his arms, Chanyeol stepped towards the smaller and gave him a kiss. “Hey. Need any help with that?”

“You just came home, sit down and have a break.”

Chanyeol did as he was told, setting Kyungsoo back to his tiny feet as he sat down. When the boy toddled off he leaned into the chair, sighing loudly. 

“Rough day?”

“Kinda,” Yeol answered. “The air conditioner is not working and the whole building was nothing but hot and humid. It was really hard to concentrate and I fucked up a couple of times.”

Baek made a face. “When will it be repaired?”

“They try to fix it over the weekend but they’re not sure if they can do it. I heard someone saying that it’s a major problem and they have to renew the whole thing.”

“But wouldn’t that take a while?”

“It would, yes.”

“Ah, that’s bad. In the news they sat that’ll get even hotter next week.”

“Yeah,” Yeol sighed. “I heard that too.”

Putting the knife he was holding away, Baek went over to his husband. Taking place in the man’s lap he hugged him, setting a couple of kisses to the corner of his mouth and his cheek. “Do you want to take a bath to relax a little?”

“Nah, no need for that,” Chanyeol shook his head. Wrapping an arm around Baekhyun’s waist, he pulled him closer. “I’m doing much better since I’m here.”

Chuckling a little, Baek planted a kiss on his husbands lips. “I hope you’re hungry.”

‘“I am,” the taller nodded. “And you really don’t need any help?”

“Well, if you that desperately want to help I’d ask you to set the table.”

“Sure, in here or outside?”

“Hm, terrace sounds nice. But please keep an eye on your son, he’s already bathed and I don’t need him to look like a mole again.”

“A mole?” Chanyeol raised a brow. “Was he in the sandpit?”

“Believe it or not.”

“Wow,” Yeol whistled. Unlike other kids his age, Kyungsoo was not really fond of getting dirty or exploring the world when things such as sand or mud were involved. Him actually checking out the sandpit they have gotten him was a huge thing. “Alright, don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

After dinner and a round of playing with Kyungsoo and his latest favorite toy, Chanyeol gladly took over and brought his son to bed. Reading him a book and watching him as he slowly fell asleep, Chanyeol pressed one last kiss to his toddlers forehead and then made his way to Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun sat on the edge of their bed, rubbing lotion into his skin as he stepped into the room. “Already done with shower?” 

“No, not yet. I wanted to give the lotion some time to fully set into the skin. I guess I've got a little sunburn while preventing Soo from putting pebbles into his mouth.”

Chanyeol chuckled at the comment. “Shall I do your shoulders and back?”

“Yes, please.”

Moving to sit on the bed behind his husband, Chanyeol grabbed the lotion and poured some of it into his palm. “Your skin really looks a little reddened,” he said while starting to rub some of the soothing lotion onto the small shoulders. “Didn't you put on some sun block?”

“No time, your son demanded all my attention.”

Baekhyun hummed as the actually just putting on lotion turned into a nice shoulder massage. He closed his eyes at the pleasuring treatment, only blinken them open again as a pair of lips were connected to his nape. 

He sighed softly when a shiver ran down his spine. “Is this your call for attention now?”

“Maybe,” Yeol said, voice quiet and low. “I mean, I grant our son all the attention he wants but since he's not here right now. Can you spare me some attention?” 

Smiling Baekhyun turned around. “As much as you want,” he breathed out, meeting his husband for a kiss. 

Kissing and touching, simply enjoying each other's company piece by piece of their clothes found their way off their bodies. Baekhyun hummed loudly as their naked bodies touched and Chanyeol firmly kneaded the flesh of his full thighs. 

“Shall we try for a cherry blossom?”

The rather weird question had Baekhyun pulling his head back a little. “Try for a cherry blossom?” He asked, frowning in confusion. 

Chanyeol nodded, putting on the adorably goofy smile Baekhyun had fallen for years ago. “If we try and it happens any time soon we'll get an April baby.”

Baekhyun laughed out . “Or in your words a cherry blossom.”

“Yes,” Yeol laughed along. “Do you want to?”

“I didn't think of it until now, to be honest. Don't you think Soo is still quite young and a handful?”

Chanyeol smiled, moving his hands up and down the backside of the smallers thighs. “Don’t feel pressured by my ask, okay. I was just seeing those two little fellas on my way home and it kinda hit me. It was a nice picture.”

Baek shook his head slightly. “No, it's okay,” he smiled. “I mean, if I think about-” He paused for a second. “The age difference of two years sounds very nice actually.”

The soft smile on Chanyeol's lips brightened. “So, is that a yes?”

Baek nodded, leaning forwards. “Yes, we can try but only under one condition.”

“Yeah?”

“We have to try all night long.”

Chanyeol laughed out, catching his husband's lips for a kiss. “With pleasure.”


End file.
